Caledonia Mining Corporation will likely see the extension of life at its flagship Blanket Mine after recent in-fill deep drilling produced better-than-expected grades and widths.
Gold grades from around 1,000 metres (m) below the surface at the Blanket and Eroica ore bodies ranged between 3.62 grammes per tonne (g/t) to 8.8g/t over widths of 4-16m.
Mark Learmonth, chief executive, said: “We anticipate that the positive grades and widths will result in an increased overall resource, which in due course should result in the extension of the existing life of the mine.
“Drilling is currently focussed on the Blanket and Eroica ore bodies, where crosscuts have been mined to allow optimal access to drill the deeper zones of the steeply-dipping ore bodies.
“These results are extremely promising, and we look forward to the next phase of drilling and to updating the market accordingly.”
The drilling, from 750m below the surface, intersected the orebodies to depths of 1,110m, the lowest level of main infrastructure being developed from the Central Shaft at the Blanket mine.
Caledonia’s statement added: “It is anticipated that a portion of the existing inferred mineral resources will be upgraded to measured or indicated mineral resources together with the addition of new inferred mineral resources.
“It is expected that this will result in the existing life of mine being extended, rather than an increase in the target annual production rate.”
A new resource and mine plan is expected to be published in the second quarter of 2024.
