Blanket joins elite gold miners league
NYSE-listed resources outfit Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc got a major boost last week after it was admitted into the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners (GDXJ) Index for the first time.
The admission, which became effective on Friday, followed the GDXJ Index’s first quarter 2021 review, according to a statement released by the firm whose flagship operation is the Gwanda-based Blanket Mine.
“The GDXJ Index forms the basis of various passive gold sector investment funds in the North American market, the most significant being the US$5,2 billion Van Eck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF,” Caledonia said.
Caledonia chief executive Steve Curtis said the listing of the company’s shares in America had increased the miner’s liquidity significantly and its inclusion on the index should “further raise its profile among retail and institutional investors”.
“The listing of our shares on the NYSE American has increased our liquidity significantly and our inclusion on the index should further raise our profile among retail and institutional investors,” he said.
NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City.
It was previously a mutual organisation that was owned by members.
Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange.
“The addition of Caledonia to the index will be an important milestone for our business and will come at an exciting time for the company with the commissioning of central shaft due to be completed in the first quarter of this year,” Curtis added.
The development comes as Caledonia is in the market for gold brownfields in Zimbabwe.
Early October, Caledonia signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Zimbabwe for boosting investments, including possible takeover of State mining assets. Previously, the company had indicated that it was eying a number of brownfield gold mines in the country, but faced challenges in concluding deals.
The company recently secured exclusive rights to explore and acquire mining claims in the gold-rich Connemara North area in the Gweru mining district, as well as at Glen Hume in the same district where airborne geophysics have indicated attractive exploration targets.
Currently, the company projects a maximum of 67 000 ounces in production at Blanket Mine at the end of 2021. The shaft, to be commissioned by the end of this quarter, has capacity to produce 80 000 ounces of gold a year.-newsday
