LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Caledonia Mining announced further high-grade drill results from its Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe on Monday, with recent underground drilling exceeding expectations and identifying a potential new orebody.
The AIM-traded firm said the findings were expected to support a forthcoming upgrade to the mine's mineral resource estimate and may extend the life of mine beyond current projections.

Between January 2024 and April this year, the company drilled 6,976 metres targeting the Blanket, Eroica and Lima orebodies - three of the mine's key mineralised zones.

Results showed wider and higher-grade intersections than previously modelled, particularly in the Blanket and Eroica zones.

Drilling at Lima also confirmed continuity of mineralisation at depth.

Notably, holes BLK870EX2312 and BLK870EX2308 intersected what was believed to be a new subparallel orebody in the Blanket zone, with headline results including 31.8 metres - true width 24.73 metres - at 6.71 grams of gold per tonne, and 10.8 metres - true width 5.93 metres - at 17.73 grams per tonne.

"Our ongoing drilling campaign continues to demonstrate encouraging results, further improving our confidence in the Blanket Mine mineral resource and pointing to additional future mineral resource growth," said chief executive Mark Learmonth.

"The grades and widths we are seeing from this drilling campaign are as good as and, in some cases, considerably better than results from previous drilling campaigns, which is highly encouraging.

"We anticipate that the positive grades and widths will result in an increased overall mineral resource estimate, which in due course should result in the extension of the existing life of mine."

The drill data also supported the reclassification of inferred resources to indicated status, bolstering the foundation for long-term planning.

Results from drillhole ARS1110EX2308 in the Blanket 1 Footwall orebody returned 13.2 metres at 25.06 grams of gold per tonne, significantly higher than the modelled grade of approximately 4.64 grams per tonne.

In the same hole, the Blanket 1 Hangingwall returned 7.14 metres at 6.28 grams per tonne, more than double the expected width.

At the Eroica and Lima orebodies, drilling confirmed mineralisation persisted to depth, with Lima now believed to extend from the 22 level down to 34 level, increasing its long-term potential.

Beyond underground exploration, Caledonia said it had launched a surface exploration programme within the Blanket mining lease, targeting a banded iron formation previously mined at nearby operations.

Initial sampling had returned assays of up to 32.12 grams of gold per tonne, and the company said it had planned further trenching and reverse circulation drilling in 2025.

The results would feed into an updated mineral resource estimate scheduled for release by year-end.

At 1034 BST, shares in Caledonia Mining were up 3.28% at 1,415p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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