Caledonia Mining Corporation, which controls Blanket Mine \u2014 one of Zimbabwe\u2019s largest gold producers \u2014 along with the Bilboes and Motapa assets, is trading at a premium valuation, underscoring strong investor confidence in its growth trajectory.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s price to earnings (P\/E) ratio stands at 11,8 times, slightly above the industry average of 11. Market watchers say this signals greater confidence in Caledonia\u2019s future earnings compared to peers.<\/p>\n
In its latest review of Caledonia\u2019s financials for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, brokerage firm IH Securities said the miner was \u201cpoised for growth,\u201d after revising its 2025 gold production target upwards to between 75 500 and 79 500 ounces, from an earlier range of 74 000 to 78 000 ounces.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gold rally has persisted into 2025, with the consensus price for the year hovering around the US$3 500 (per ounce) mark,\u201d IH noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cPossible catalysts include sustained geopolitical tensions and a potential cut in the (US) federal funds rate, which could further boost gold\u2019s appeal. Against this backdrop, Caledonia has opted not to engage in further hedging.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bullish outlook mirrors confidence from Zimbabwean authorities, who have highlighted gold\u2019s strong performance in the broader mining sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mining sector has been bullish, driven by gold deliveries which rose to 20,1 tonnes as at end June 2025, up from 13,85 tonnes during the same period in 2024,\u201d the central bank said in its mid-term monetary policy statement two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
At Blanket Mine, management is banking on sustaining record recovery rates achieved during the quarter to June. IH Securities also flagged notable cost savings after Caledonia installed power factor correction equipment in November, trimming US$18 per ounce in costs.<\/p>\n
Operational efficiencies are also being targeted. \u201cDuring the second quarter of 2025, a new clocking system was implemented to improve labour management and reduce inefficient labour allocation going forward,\u201d IH said.<\/p>\n
Guidance for all in sustaining costs remains at US$1 690 to US$1 790 per ounce, with capital expenditure for the year expected at US$41 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, Blanket Mine appears well positioned for further positive developments in the short term,\u201d IH noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the group\u2019s pipeline are continued feasibility studies at Bilboes and surface exploration at Motapa. Caledonia is currently trading at a PER of 11,8x compared to peers at 11x.\u201d<\/p>\n
A stronger balance sheet also underpinned the quarter, boosted by proceeds from the sale of Caledonia\u2019s solar business for US$22,35 million. After transaction costs, the miner realised US$21,97 million in net cash, pushing total assets to US$389,16 million from US$348,36 million a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Gold production at Blanket Mine hit a new quarterly record of 21 070 ounces, thanks to a recovery rate of 94,4%. This helped offset a 1,8% year on year decline in tonnes milled, resulting in a 4,9% increase in first half output to 40 458 ounces.<\/p>\n
At Bilboes, the oxide mine remains under care and maintenance, but leaching of heap pads added 807 ounces to the group\u2019s tally.<\/p>\n
The strong operational performance drove a 37,1% surge in revenue for the half year to US$121,49 million, compared to last year, while profit after tax more than doubled to US$34,75 million.
\nhttps:\/\/www.theindependent.co.zw\/business-digest\/article\/200045259\/blanket-mine-operator-seen-expanding-on-bullish-targets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Caledonia Mining Corporation, which controls Blanket Mine \u2014 one of Zimbabwe\u2019s largest gold producers \u2014 along with the Bilboes and Motapa assets, is trading at a premium valuation, underscoring strong investor confidence in its growth trajectory. The company\u2019s price to earnings (P\/E) ratio stands at 11,8 times, slightly above the industry average of 11. Market […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[19,18,17],"class_list":["post-3163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-updates","tag-bilboes","tag-blanket-mine","tag-caledonia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3165,"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3163\/revisions\/3165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctrade.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}