Capital’s Tanzania-based subsidiary, CMS (Tanzania) Limited, has been successfully awarded a surface production drilling contract with AngloGold Ashanti at the Geita gold mine in Tanzania.

The three-year contract will use five rigs from the mining service company’s existing fleet, together with the acquisition of one new rig during 2022, to continue provision of blasthole drilling services at the Geita mine, bringing the total number of rigs operating on site to 25.

CMS is an 80:20 joint venture between the mining services company and local company CK Washirika Limited. The joint venture, which is fully compliant with the local content law in Tanzania, demonstrates Capital’s commitment to building capabilities and supporting local communities, it said.

The new contract supplements the two existing three-year contracts, a surface drilling contract for exploration and grade control services and an underground contract for grade control and exploration drilling services, both of which were renewed in the first half of 2021 and are also fully compliant to local content laws in Tanzania.

This contract further cements Capital’s long-term relationship with AngloGold Ashanti, which started with the provision of grade control drilling services at the Geita site in 2006 and will now extend to 2025.

The production drilling contract started in December and is anticipated to generate revenues of $33 million over the contract term.

Jamie Boyton, Capital Executive Chairman, said: “The contract continues Capital’s delivery of production drilling to the site and reflects the team’s excellent operational and safety performance in providing drilling services to the Geita mine for more than 15 years. Importantly, the contract award also supports our strategy of building the sustainability of the business by maintaining the portfolio of long-term mine-site based clients.”