Encouraging drilling results at Blanket Gold Mine’s Eroica zone

By Agencies

Caledonia Mining Corporation has reported encouraging results from the ongoing underground drilling program at Blanket Gold Mine which currently targets depth extensions to the Eroica ore body. 

Approximately 5,600 m of drilling have been completed between January 2023 and the end of May 2023. Initial results indicate that the existing Eroica ore body continues at depth with grades and widths being generally better than expected.

Deep level drilling at Blanket Gold Mine was suspended several years ago due to underground logistical constraints and the impact of Covid-19 on contractor operations.

RELATED:
Caledonia Mining begins direct sale of gold produced from Zimbabwe

Following completion of the Central Shaft and related infrastructure, deep level drilling resumed in January 2023 and is currently focussed on the Eroica ore body where a crosscut has been mined to allow optimal access to drill the deeper zones of the steeply-dipping ore body.

Approximately 5,600 m of drilling were completed between January 1, 2023 and May 30, 2023; approximately a further 12,900 m are planned for the remainder of 2023.

At the Eroica zone, drilling from an exploration drive on the 750 m level of the mine has focussed mainly on converting inferred resources to indicated resources, in addition to drilling areas outside of inferred resources as the mineralization extends to depth, between 850 m and 1 150 m below surface.

This is above the bottom of the new Central Shaft and therefore any resources that are identified in this area will be served by the planned Central Shaft infrastructure.

Overall, the results confirm the Eroica zone persists to depth as earlier modelled, and, encouragingly, the results indicate that grades and widths are significantly higher than previously thought.

In addition, the deepest hole drilled in the programme, hole ERC750EX2214, returned strong intersections some 120 m vertically beneath the current inferred resource, which returned true widths of 5.78 m grading 8.18 g/t gold and 8 m grading 7.7 g/t gold. The zone also remains completely open below these intersections.

Mark Learmonth, Caledonia’s CEO, comments on the initial drilling results:

“I am delighted with the results of the drilling campaign so far. In particular, the grades are very encouraging when compared to the historically achieved mining grades from Eroica which have been approximately 4-5 g/t.

“The Central Shaft and related infrastructure are vital not only to increase production, but to give us the capacity to re-start exploration with a view to extending the life at Blanket Gold Mine.

“Caledonia Mining has invested heavily in Blanket Gold Mine in the last 7 years, including investment in 2023 (which will be continued in 2024) in a new tailings facility with an anticipated life of approximately 14 years, to create a mine infrastructure which can sustain production beyond the current production horizon.

“These results are very encouraging, and we look forward to receiving results from extension drilling at the Blanket Gold Mine ore bodies and also from the next phase of drilling.”