HARARE – Caledonia Mining Corporation, through its Zimbabwean subsidiary Caledonia Mining Services (Private) Limited, announced the completion of the sale of its solar plant to CrossBoundary Energy Holdings (“CBE”) for US$22.35 million. This strategic move unlocks capital for the company’s growth strategy.
The 12.2MWac solar plant, owned and operated by CMS, supplies power to Blanket Mine. Under the terms of the sale, the solar plant will continue to provide power to Blanket Mine through an exclusive power purchase agreement, ensuring a reliable source of renewable energy.
In September 2024, following a robust bidding process managed by Caledonia’s Zimbabwe financial advisors IH Advisory, Caledonia signed a conditional sale agreement with CBE to sell the solar plant, aligning with its strategy to focus on its core business of gold mining. This agreement allows Blanket Mine to maintain access to clean energy while enabling Caledonia to reallocate capital for growth.
Mark Learmonth, Chief Executive Officer of Caledonia, commented, “We are pleased to have completed the sale of the solar plant, strengthening our cash position and enabling us to redeploy capital towards our core gold mining and expansion operations.
“By selling the plant for $22.35 million, Caledonia realizes a profit on the $14.3 million construction cost. Importantly, we retain the exclusive energy off-take agreement, ensuring that approximately 20% of Blanket Mine’s daily electricity needs continue to be met by renewable energy.”
Matthew Tilleard, Managing Partner at CrossBoundary Energy, said, “Energy provision is an expensive challenge for the mining sector in Africa. The acquisition of Blanket Mine’s solar PV facility is part of CrossBoundary Energy’s ongoing commitment to providing the best energy solutions for the sector. Through a power purchase agreement, Blanket Mine will continue utilizing the benefits of distributed renewable power, whilst freeing up capital for its value-generating mining activities.”
The construction of the solar plant was initially financed by a registered offering of Caledonia’s shares in the USA in 2020, which raised $13 million through the issue of 597,963 shares. Since its commissioning in February 2023, the solar plant has generated over 57,722MWh of power.
As of April 9, 2025, Caledonia’s net debt stood at $3.8 million. After receiving the sale proceeds, the company’s pro forma net cash balance would be approximately $18.6 million.
