JOHANNESBURG – Gold miner Caledonia Mining Corporation, which operates its flagship Blanket mine, has acquired Motapa Mining Company, whose subsidiary holds a mining lease over the Motapa gold exploration property, in southern Zimbabwe.
Caledonia bought Motapa Mining from privately owned UK company Bulaway Mining Company for an undisclosed amount.
“We are pleased to have concluded the purchase of Motapa. Given its large-scale, excellent geological prospectivity and its strategic location adjacent to Bilboes, Motapa was a high-priority acquisition for Caledonia.
“We look forward to developing an exploration programme for Motapa as we target a large-scale gold belt surrounding the Bilboes project,” says Caledonia CEO Mark Learmonth.
The Motapa project is a large exploration property, which is contiguous to the Bilboes gold project, which Caledonia is also acquiring.
The Motapa project was formerly owned and explored by Anglo American Zimbabwe prior to its exit from the Zimbabwean gold sector in the late 1990s.
“With the central shaft at Blanket now fully operational and production targeting 80 000 oz/y of gold, wee anticipate that we will deploy the incremental cash flow arising from Blanket into our exciting exploration and project development portfolio in Zimbabwe.
“The acquisition of Motapa following the signing of a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Bilboes and the acquisition of Maligreen demonstrates that, over the last 12 months, Caledonia has established a pipeline of high-quality exploration and development projects.
This is in addition to the potential for further growth at Blanket where we are optimistic about its exploration potential,” Learmonth comments. – Mining Weekly