The results from the latest high-grade gold intercepts from ongoing underground drilling at the Bill’s Luck gold mine, on the Hillside project, in Zimbabwe, are “highly encouraging”, London-listed Kavango Resources CEO Ben Turney says.

“We intercepted 4.36 m of gold mineralisation, grading 11.79 g/t. This intersection is about 12 m from where we are currently mining beneath three level, therefore representing a near-term target for us to pursue.

“While the result is extremely positive, we are most encouraged by what it suggests about the wider potential at Bill’s Luck. The current underground drilling programmes continue to add further evidence that this gold system is much larger than we originally anticipated,” he highlights.

Hole BLDDUG004B intersected a gold-bearing structure from 47.36 m to 51.72 m of 11.79 g/t over 4.36 m.

The drilling aims to test the strike and down-dip continuity of recently discovered and existing mineralised reefs.

Hole BLDDUG004B was collared on two level (995 m above sea level) and drilled to a depth of 75.48 m.

Highlights include the first intersection of 11.79 g/t over 4.36 m from 47.36 m depth, and the second intersection of 0.49 g/t over 4 m from 61.30 m depth.

Kavango says the first intersection appears to be the down dip continuity of the Bill’s Luck Main reef, while the second intersection appears to be a parallel reef that lies further into the hanging wall.

This appears coincidental with the intersection in Hole BLDDUG003 that returned 3.70 g/t over 0.59 m from 6.41 m depth, announced last month, the company points out.

Kavango is currently building a 50 t/d carbon-in-pulp (CiP) test plant at Bill’s Luck to increase gold production capacity, also announced last month.

“The main strike at Bill's Luck is open, as is the downdip continuity. In addition, there appears to be a number of previously unrecognised parallel reefs hosting gold mineralisation.

“We have started work on the 50 t/d gold processing plant at Bill’s Luck, with commissioning targeted for the second half of the year. Today’s result increases our confidence that we will operate the plant at full capacity from launch,” Turney avers.

The Bill’s Luck CiP test plant is expected to boost the company’s overall gold production within three months and be cash flow positive shortly after successful commissioning, when steady-state nameplate throughput has been reliably achieved.

Kavango is exploring for gold deposits in Zimbabwe that it says have the potential to be developed into commercial-scale production quickly through modern mechanised mining and processing. The company is targeting both openpit and underground opportunities.

Kavango has two projects on the Filabusi greenstone belt, Hillside and Nara.

Kavango owns 100% of the Hillside project, having exercised its option in April 2024. Here, the company has three high-priority targets – Bill’s Luck, Steenbok and Nightshift – it aims to bring into production over the next 18 months.