Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:CMCL, NYSE-A:CMCL) said ongoing underground drilling at the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe indicated that the Eroica target ore body continues at depth with better widths and higher grades than expected.
The miner drilled 5,600 metres (m) between January 2023 and the end of May with a further 12,900m planned for the remainder of 2023.
Most of the drilling has been aimed at converting inferred resources to indicated up to a depth of 750m, but deeper holes also returned high gold grades and widths.
The deepest hole returned 8m gold at 7.7 grammes per tonne (g/t) in one section below the current inferred resource.
Access to this mineralisation area is now possible through the new Central Shaft, Caledonia added, with the area being logistically too difficult to access previously.
Mark Learmonth, chief executive, said it was a “very encouraging” start to the drill campaign.
“In particular, the grades are very encouraging compared to the historically achieved mining grades from Eroica, which have been approximately 4-5g/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 Mine.”