Caracal reports fresh gold find in Kilimapesa project
A gold mining company targeting listing at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has reported an increase in the mineral deposits in their extraction project in western Kenya in the three months ended June 30.
Caracal Gold, which started mining in December 2021, said mineral resource estimate (MRE) at their Kilimapesa Hill Deposit shows a resource of 12.15-million tonnes at 1.5 g/t gold for 565,700 ounce (oz) of the mineral.
The London Stock Exchange-listed company says their find represents a 202 percent increase in the measured and indicated category, with 56 percent of the contained 317,600 oz now in the measured and indicated categories, up from 105,000 oz announced earlier.
“In Kenya mining output is planned to increase over the next six months, capacity planned to hit the rate of 24,000oz pa by year-end. The exploration focus has moved to the Vim Rutha regional target,” the company tweeted.
“The results of the updated mineral resource have shown a significant increase in the quality of the resource at Kilimapesa Hill. The positive results in the earlier MRE update have further strengthened the project team’s confidence and justifies our decision to expand production at Kilimapesa.
“The ounces contained in the measured and indicated category are now able to be converted into reserves for the mining and processing plant,” Caracal CEO Robbie McCrae said.
Read also: Former Mining CS Dan Kazungu joins London-listed gold firm board
Across Tanzania, Caracal Gold has entered into a new agreement on share purchase to buy off extraction company Tyacks Gold – the holder of the licences collectively referred to as the Nyakafuru project.
A total of $500 000 has been paid in the three months to June to finance the full acquisition.
“We are excited about the new gold mine development opportunity this will present as Nyakafura more than doubles our total resource base and exploration potential for the company,” McCrae noted.
In Kenya, Caracal said the maiden heap leach project at Kilimapesa has already produced its first gold, and construction of the second leach pad is done even as the commissioning of the third leach remains on course.
In March, Caracal Gold appointed former Kenyan mining minister Dan Kazungu to the company board.
The company said that Mr Kazungu drove mining and business reforms during his tenure as minister, which saw Kenya’s global mining ranking improve to 83rd place from 125th in a year.
