Caledonia acquires dormant Maligreen gold mine in Zimbabwe

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(Kitco News) – Caledonia Mining announced Thursday that it has entered into an agreement to purchase the mining claims over the Maligreen project in Zimbabwe, from Pan African Mining, a privately-owned Zimbabwean company, for a total cash consideration of US$4 million.

The company said that the property is estimated to contain a NI 43-101 compliant inferred mineral resource of approximately 940,000 ounces of gold, with 76% of the inferred mineral resource (approximately 712,000 ounces) is shallower than 220m indicating the potential for an open pit mining operation.

Maligreen is a substantial brownfield exploration opportunity with significant historical exploration and evaluation work having been conducted on the property over the last 30 years, Caledonia noted.

The total land area of Maligreen is approximately 550 hectares comprising two historic open pit mining operations which produced approximately 20,000 oz of gold mined from oxides between 2000 and 2002 after which the operation was closed.

Caledonia said it expects to drill an initial 4,800 meters at an estimated cost of US$1.6 million over a period of 18 to 24 months to improve its understanding of the existing resource and assess the potential for a mining operation.

Further exploration opportunities exist within the claims area and a subsequent exploration program is under consideration to explore for continuations of the existing inferred mineral resource at depth to the north-west and the strike extension in the northern part of the property, the company added.

“This transaction is an important next step as Caledonia pursues its strategy to become a multi-asset gold producer in Zimbabwe, one of the last gold frontiers in Africa,” said CEO Steve Curtis.