Published: September 28, 2022 |

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Caledonia Mining has agreed to acquire Bilboes Gold, which owns the Bilboes gold project in Zimbabwe, in a deal worth around $53.3 million.

As consideration, Caledonia Mining will issue 5.1 million of its shares to Bilboes Gold along with a net smelter royalty (NSR) of 1 percent on the project’s revenues. The shares to be issued represent nearly 28.5 percent of Caledonia Mining’s fully diluted equity.

Bilboes Gold is owned by Toziyana Resources (50 percent), Baker Steel Resources Trust (24 percent), and Infinite Treasure (26 percent).

The Bilboes gold project is located nearly 75km north of Bulawayo. It was historically subject to a limited amount of open pit mining.

The project was previously owned and explored by Anglo American before its exit from the gold sector in Zimbabwe in 2003. It has a total land package made up of mining claims spanning 6,870ha and exclusive prospecting orders that come to around 92,000ha.

The Bilboes gold project had produced nearly 288,000 ounces of gold since 1989 of which around 90,000 ounces were drawn by the present owners.

It has proven and probable mineral reserves of 1.96 million ounces of gold at a grade of 2.29 g/t. The project’s measured and indicated mineral resources are 2.56 million ounces of gold at a grade of 2.26 g/t, while inferred mineral resources are 577,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 1.89 g/t.

Bilboes Gold had also executed a total of 93,400m of drilling over a total strike length of 7.4km. Nearly 60 percent of the drilling was diamond core drilling.

“This is a transformational asset for Caledonia, as we embark on the next step in our journey to become a multi-asset, mid-tier gold producer. Once in full production (which will be subject to financing of the capex) Caledonia’s management believes that Bilboes could produce three times our current 64 percent attributable share of gold production from Blanket, resulting in production from the enlarged Caledonia group being potentially four times its current size,” said Caledonia Mining CEO Mark Learmonth.

“We have followed the progress of Bilboes for several years and today’s announcement marks the culmination of many years of hard work on the part of both the Caledonia and Bilboes management teams,” added Learmonth.

Caledonia Mining said that it will carry out its own feasibility study for identifying the most judicious way to commercialize the Bilboes gold project to optimize shareholder returns.

In September 2021, Caledonia Mining signed a deal to acquire the Maligreen project in Zimbabwe from Pan African Mining for $4 million.

Source: NS Energy

About Caledonia Mining
Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc primarily engages in the operation of a gold mine. It also explores for and develops mineral properties for precious metals. The company holds 64 percent interest in the Blanket Mine, a gold mine located in Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe. It also has an agreement to purchase 100 percent ownership in the Maligreen project, a brownfield gold exploration project located in Gweru mining district in the Zimbabwe Midlands.

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