BRITISH miner, Kavango Resources Plc, has made a major discovery of potential gold at its Hillside Project, through its exploration activities of the area.
The Hillside Project consists of 44 gold claims covering 503 hectares and is one of three mines that Kavango operates in Zimbabwe.
The other two mining projects are Nara Gold and Leopard. The former covers four historic mines near Bulawayo with a total recorded production of more than 90 000 ounces (oz), while the latter comprises two groups of claims that have produced 2 000oz.
The Hillside Project is divided into six prospects.
“We are extremely pleased with the latest results from Prospect 1. The new reefs identified add to the growing number of opportunities for near-term, significant gold production at Hillside,” Kavango Resources chief executive officer Ben Turney said in a statement.
“With gold now trading at record highs over US$3 000, the timing of work to define resources at Prospect 3 and Prospect 4 is ideal.
“Up to now, it appears a previous owner of Hillside’s efforts to protect the future mining potential at Prospect 1 hid the true potential of the historic mine and with it the opportunity for much greater gold production.” Earlier this month, Kavango announced the successful completion of its initial resource drilling programme at Prospect 3 at the Hillside Gold Project.
Turney said with the additional discovery at the project, the firm looked forward to bringing its drill rig back to Prospect 1.
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“The new reefs are open on strike, with grades appearing to increase with depth,” he said.
“After establishing the reefs’ extent, we hope to move into defining a resource we can bring into production as quickly as possible.”
According to the miner, it completed restoration work on the historic main shaft and west shaft at Hillside Prospect 1 in December 2024 to allow the resumption of gold mining.
“The removal of historic waste material from the first two levels of the Main Shaft revealed a deeper, third level,” Kavango said.
“Subsequent mapping and sampling have confirmed continuity of the reef structure, hosting mineralised quartz sulphide veins, to the third level at Main Shaft.”
The miner revealed that assay results from channel sampling at the project appeared to show grades increasing with depth from level two to level three at main shaft.
“This mapping and sampling together with the assay grades suggest a significant increase in the underground potential at Prospect 1, exceeding management’s original expectations,” the miner said.
“Kavango now plans to test the extent of the reefs through a combination of surface and underground drilling. If warranted, these results will inform subsequent drilling to define a resource at Prospect 1 for a larger, longer-term underground mine than previously anticipated.”
