Bilboes oxide project placed under care and maintenance
Victoria Falls Stock Exchange listed gold-focused miner, Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc will from the 1st of October 2023 place Bilboes oxide operation under care and maintenance due to losses incurred by the costs of waste-stripping at the operations.
Rudairo Mapuranga
In January, Caledonia added the Bilboes gold project to its Portfolio after concluding the acquisition of Bilboes Gold Limited, which owns the gold asset through its Zimbabwe subsidiary Bilboes Holdings. However, due to a lack of confidence that the project can operate profitably, it will be placed under care and maintenance.
The Bilboes oxide was intended as a small-scale, low-margin, short-term project which was primarily justified by the benefits of pre-stripping in anticipation of the development of a larger sulphide project.
Caledonia group’s gross profit was affected by the costs of waste-stripping at the Bilboes oxide operation, notwithstanding a small revenue contribution of $2.2 million in the quarter ended June 30 2023.
According to Caledonia CEO Mark Learmonth, Bilboes will be returned to care and maintenance with effect from October 1, 2023, and, pending the completion of the feasibility study for the sulphide project, the remaining oxides will be mined as part of the larger project.
“Due to the lack of confidence that the Bilboes oxide mine can operate profitably, it will return to care and maintenance with effect from October 1, 2023. In due course, the remaining oxide material will be mined and processed alongside the sulphide ore. This outcome has no bearing on the viability of the much larger sulphide project which was the reason for acquiring Bilboes. The results of the feasibility study on the project will be published before year-end after which we will be able to establish the best development approach,” Learmonth said.