Caledonia meets full-year production guidance at Blanket Mine

(Sharecast News) - Caledonia Mining released its fourth-quarter production figures for the Blanket Mine on Friday, and provided guidance for production, costs, and capital expenditure for 2024. The AIM-traded firm said that in 2023, Blanket achieved an annual gold production of 75,416 ounces, aligning with its earlier guidance.

Specifically, the fourth quarter saw Blanket producing 20,172 ounces of gold.

Looking at 2024, Caledonia forecast gold production at Blanket to range between 74,000 and 78,000 ounces.

The company said its budgeted capital expenditure for the entire group in 2024 amounted to $34.4m.

That would include planned exploration activities at Motapa and further work on the Bilboes feasibility studies.

Anticipated group capital expenditure would involve $20m in sustaining investment, incorporated into the all-in sustaining cost guidance, and $14.4m in expansion expenditure.

The board said the expansion expenditure would include investments in a new tailings storage facility with an estimated lifespan of 12 years, along with further underground development.

It would also include $2m allocated for preliminary exploration at Motapa and $3.5m for additional work on the Bilboes feasibility studies.

Caledonia anticipated on-mine costs at Blanket to remain consistent with the expenses incurred in 2023.

The company said it was also actively engaged in advancing the feasibility studies for the Bilboes sulphide project, with the aim of determining the most optimal implementation strategy for the project.

That ongoing work would comprise updating the existing feasibility study for a project expected to produce approximately 170,000 ounces of gold per annum, as well as exploring an alternative phased approach to the project.

"I am pleased that, after a challenging first half, we successfully met production guidance for the year, producing 75,416 gold ounces," said chief executive officer Mark Learmonth.

"Our 2024 guidance of 74,000 to 78,000 ounces assumes that Blanket will broadly maintain the production rate achieved in 2023 and reflects the prudent decision to suspend mining in lower margin areas which include lower grades and volumes, and higher costs.

"Our significant investment in Blanket over the past seven years and completion of the Central Shaft has nearly doubled production, extended the mine life and allowed the restart of underground exploration in 2023; in July we announced that the Eroica zone persists to depth and grades are significantly higher than previously thought."

Learmonth said the firm was continuing to progress with the underground exploration programme, and expected to publish further exploration results in the first quarter and a revised resource statement in the second quarter.

"Our wider capital expenditure programme continues to focus on unlocking value and delivering our multi-asset growth pipeline in Zimbabwe with Motapa and Bilboes, whilst maintaining a disciplined focus on cost and capital allocation.

"We continue to progress our feasibility studies for the Bilboes sulphide project with a view to determining the best option for Caledonia stakeholders, and I look forward to providing an update in due course."

At 1239 GMT, shares in Caledonia Mining Corporation were down 0.11% at 924p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.