Gold, News & Features, Resource News
Caledonia Sells 51% of Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe for $30 Million
By Bloomberg · May 11, 2012 · 8:42 am · Leave a Comment
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By Brian Latham
Caledonia Mining Corp. (CAL) said it will sell 51 percent of its Blanket gold mine in Zimbabwe for $30.1 million to comply with the southern African country’s ownership laws.
Flemiro Investments (Pvt) Ltd., a closely held Zimbabwean investment company, will pay $11 million for 15 percent of the mine, Caledonia said in a statement on its website. A workers’ trust fund will buy a further 10 percent, 16 percent will be sold to the state-owned Zimbabwe National Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Fund and 10 percent will be given to a local community share trust, the company said.
Under Zimbabwean law, all foreign-owned mines must be 51 percent-owned by black Zimbabweans or the state.
Toronto-based Caledonia produced 9,164 ounces of gold in the quarter through Dec. 31, an increase of 25 percent on the same period a year earlier, according to the company’s quarterly report. Production fell 13 percent from the preceding quarter, it said. Profit after tax rose to $7.11 million from $1.89 million a year earlier.
