Caledonia Mining Corporation plc (LON:CMCL) VP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations Maurice Mason caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss Q2 production figures.
Q1: A Q2 production update just published, Maurice can you talk us through the highlights?
A1: It was a good quarter for the mine, in fact a great quarter considering the disruptions Caledonia Mining Corporation experienced during the quarter. We produced just shy of 13,500 ounces for the quarter which was about 6% up on the corresponding period in 2019 and that takes our half-year numbers to just under 28,000 ounces, 27,700, which is about 12% ahead of where we were at the same period in 2019.
So, all in all, we’re very happy with that achievement especially we should not forget that this was the COVID quarter. Zimbabwe shut down their borders for 6 weeks, we were running the mine effectively with stores inventory with supply line completely closed.
In the context of that achievement, I think it’s an outstanding performance by the mine and something which all of our employees should be justifiable proud.
Q2: In terms of news flow, is there anything that investors should be looking out for over the coming months from Caledonia Mining Corporation?
A2: Obviously, the central shaft is our main transformational project, that’s something that’s well advanced, we’ve been running that for the last 5 years, the shaft sinking is complete and we’re now near equipping phase.
We’re still expecting to complete that in 2020, there have been some disruptions with Coronavirus on capital equipment and getting the right people through the border with certain or specific skills but nothing that causes us any substantial concern there. So, investors should obviously look out for that because that is the key to the value case.
We publish our results quarterly so in about 6 weeks after the close of the quarter we have financial results which come out every quarter so investors should pay attention to that.
Particularly, we expect people can do the maths for themselves, but with gold topping $1,800 an ounce yesterday, the cash flow generated is about $900 an ounce and that’s just based on Q1 production numbers.
So, investors should pay attention to all of those things and I think if they do, they’ll find themselves seeing some pleasing numbers.
