Roy Pitchford, Chief Executive Officer of mining company Central African Gold, outlined the company’s strategy for its Zimbabwean operations at the 6th International Mining in Africa Conference in London in late June. Pitchford said that the company will “restart mining operations to take advantage of new monetary policies being introduced to stimulate the Zimbabwe economy.” It will “restructure and optimise mining operations and complete scoping/prefeasibility studies.” In terms of “growth targets”, he said that the open pit at Camperdown (expansion) and Dalny (seven underground workings which can be exploited using open-pit mining methods) will be prioritised.
In a slide titled ‘Why Zimbabwe’, Pitchford explained that the Falgold Gold Zimbabwe team, in which the company has an 84.7% stake, has experience of mining and exploration in Zimbabwe. This has ensured the company make the most of its gold projects in the country. He also pointed to the good infrastructure, skills and easy access that the country has, as well as it being in close proximity to South Africa. These reasons, along with the fact that modern exploration methods have yet to be applied to many deposits in Zimbabwe, has given the company confidence to continue work on its gold projects there.
The company will optimise capital expenditure in line with the economic/political developments going on in the country. It will also continue to actively engage with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Mines and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in order to keep up with developments.
Zimbabwe is one of the largest historical producers of gold and to date has mined 74.2 Moz. The country has 6,000 known gold deposits. Falgold and Olympus Gold Mines (100% owned by Central African Gold) control the rights to extensive claim areas located throughout Zimbabwe, with exploration properties and five mining operations centred on the Kadoma, Shurugwe and Bulawayo regions.