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CALEDONIA Mining’s 49 percent-owned Blanket mine in Zimbabwe delivered 10, 297 oz of gold in the the quarter to September 30, a five percent quarter-on-quarter and 10.5 percent year-on-year improvement.

Gold production at the Gwanda plant remained on track to achieve target production for the year of 42,000 oz. chief executive officer Steve Curtis said in a statement that the continued increase in production reflected the improved management control over grade and tonnage, while the completion of the tramming loop in June had increased the operation’s underground haulage capacity and allowed for an increase in development activity, which was expected to result in further increases in future production.

“Sinking of the No 6 Winze was completed in July and work on equipping the shaft is almost done, after which the horizontal development toward the orebodies will start.

The start of initial production from the No 6 Winze remains on target for January.

“Work at Central shaft continues as planned and the shaft collar is expected to reach a depth of 90 m by the end of 2015,” he outlined.

Caledonia, meanwhile, remained confident that the revised investment plan, which was announced in November 2014, would result in progressive increases in production from 2016 onwards, when it expected to see the first production from below 750 m – initially from the No 6 Winze and subsequently from the Central shaft.- Mining weekly