Caledonia Mining CEO on potential new ore body at Blanket Mine

Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:CMCL, NYSE-A:CMCL, VFEX:CMCL) CEO Mark Learmonth spoke to Proactive's Stephen Gunnion after the company announced what it believes is the discovery of a new ore body at its flagship Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe. Learmonth explained that drilling, initially aimed at identifying shallow oxide material suitable for low-cost heap leach processing, has instead revealed what appears to be a larger sulfide ore body extending at depth. He discussed why near-surface oxide mining could be highly economic despite contributing fewer ounces than Blanket's annual production, highlighting the lower mining costs compared with extracting ore from around 4,000 feet underground. Learmonth also outlined the next steps, including encouraging early metallurgical test work, plans for a 10,000-tonne trial heap leach later this year and the wider exploration potential across the Blanket Mine, which he believes remains far from fully explored despite more than a century...