AU
Ariana Resources targets 2028 gold production from rare Zimbabwe greenfield mine
London-listed Ariana Resources expects to start producing gold from its greenfield project in Zimbabwe in 2028, the company’s managing director Kerim Sener said on Thursday.
Ariana’s Dokwe project, about 110 kilometres (68 miles) north-west of Zimbabwe’s second-largest city Bulawayo, is the first large-scale greenfield project in the country in decades.
The southern African country has a long history of gold production, but has struggled to attract significant investment since international mining firms including Rio Tinto, Delta Gold and Kinross exited the country more than two decades ago amid a political and economic crisis.
A handful of mid-tier miners and a host of small-scale operators lifted Zimbabwe’s annual gold production to 46.7 metric tons in 2025 from a low of 3 tons in 2008, mostly by reviving and expanding old mines.
The country’s top miners include the foreign-listed Caledonia Mining Corporation and Namib Minerals , state-backed Mutapa Gold Resources and a unit of the locally owned Padenga.
With Dokwe’s 1.13 million ounces of reserves, Ariana forecasts open pit mine output to peak at 100,000 ounces per year over a 20-year project lifespan, according to a pre-feasibility study.
A definitive feasibility study is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027.
“With a fair wind, I’d like to think that we’re pouring our first gold in 2028,” Sener told Reuters.
Ariana finds the Dokwe greenfield deposit’s qualities compelling, he said, bucking the established trend of acquiring brownfield assets.
“Dokwe represented an opportunity to tackle what is the largest undeveloped gold deposit in Zimbabwe at the present time,” Sener said.
“The other thing is the metallurgy. It looks to be fairly straightforward, a large part of the gold is amenable to gravity recovery,” he added.
Sener said there was an ongoing shift in foreign investor sentiment towards Zimbabwe under the administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from long-time leader Robert Mugabe after a 2017 coup.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya, Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
LBMA suspends Shandong Gold refinery over US labour list
Shandong Gold Smelting Co. Ltd has been suspended from the London Bullion Market Association’s Gold and Silver Good Delivery Lists after the refiner was added to a US forced labour blacklist.
The suspension takes effect Aug. 5 and follows Shandong Gold Smelting’s inclusion on the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. The London-based body, which oversees the Good Delivery accreditation system for precious metals refiners, said it has launched an incident review process and that the suspension is an interim measure pending the outcome.
“LBMA remains focused on a transparent and rigorous approach and will advise of further updates in due course,” the association said. It added that the review will involve consultation with a range of stakeholders.
Company response
Shandong Gold Smelting told the LBMA it “firmly rejects” its inclusion on the UFLPA Entity List and welcomes “a fair, independent and objective review by LBMA under the Good Delivery Rules and Responsible Sourcing Programme.”
The suspension underscores the growing impact of US trade and human rights measures on global precious metals supply chains, with Good Delivery accreditation remaining a key benchmark for refiners seeking access to international bullion markets.
No comments:
Post a Comment