Blanket mine says can withstand SA lockdown

Harare (New Ziana) – Caledonia, one of the country’s biggest gold miners, said on Thursday its main local subsidiary, Blanket Mine had enough business consumables to survive South Africa’s two week Covid-19-forced lockdown without interruption.

The company gets most of its consumables from South Africa, where the Covid-19 lockdown has disrupted a lot of business supply chains.

Caledonia said Blanket Mine, which is a big gold miner in Zimbabwe, had stocks that could stretch well beyond South Africa’s shut down.

It said even a similar lockdown in Zimbabwe would not hurt its balance sheet much as it had healthy cash on hand reserves of $12.5 million.

South Africa and Zimbabwe have both registered Covid-19 cases, and have put in place stringent control measures that have badly affected business.

Caledonia said it would comply with any recommended precaution measures against Covid-19, especially that which placed its workers’ safety as a top priority.

“Our first priority remains the safety and health of all of our employees and their families. Management has taken active measures to help minimize the risk of infection and to safeguard the continuity of day to day business operations at Blanket. These plans are reviewed and, if necessary, updated daily in response to this highly fluid situation,” the company’s chief executive officer Steve Curtis said.

“We approach this challenge with a strong balance sheet, adequate inventory levels and a healthy workforce. Caledonia, our employees and indeed the people of Zimbabwe have successfully overcome great challenges in their recent past. I have full confidence that we will deal with this current challenge in a similar manner.”
New Ziana