Caledonia Mining has updated gold resources at its 49%-owned Blanket mine, in Zimbabwe, after a six-month drilling programme in the deeper areas of the mine.
It has upgraded 343 kt from Inferred to Indicated, bringing a total of 48 koz of gold into the higher confidence category, and has added 1.28 Mt of new Inferred resources containing 202 koz of gold. These figures represent increases of 8% and 48% respectively on end-2015 resources (before depletion).
Total M&I resources now stand at 4.9 Mt at a grade of 4.23 g/t for 661 koz of gold contained. Inferred resources are now 3.9 Mt at a grade of 5.01 g/t for 623 koz of gold contained.
The upgrades are all in the Blanket section of the mine and the company expects to be able to announce further increases in the AR South, AR Main and Eroica sections in the second half of 2016.
The company is currently sinking a new vertical shaft to 1,080 m as part of an expansion programme to almost double production to around 80 koz/y by 2021. The company believes that the new resources will enable the mine to extend its life past 2021.
Caledonia upgrades and expands gold resources at Blanket mine: CMCL