Caledonia secures $150 mln for Zimbabwe gold mine in rare international capital raise
21/01/2026 08:45
Funds to build Zimbabwe's biggest gold mine Debt issuance attracts interest from US investors Record high gold prices driving higher output By Chris Takudzwa Muronzi HARARE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Caledonia Mining Corporation CALq.L, CMCL.K on Wednesday said it raised $150 million via a seven-year convertible bond offering to fund its Bilboes project which, once operational, will be Zimbabwe's largest gold mine . Zimbabwe-focused Caledonia's debt issuance is the biggest international capital raising in over a decade for the country, which had been shunned by global investors due to economic and policy volatility. Spot gold prices surged to more than $4,800 per ounce on Wednesday, driven by investors seeking havens who are backing miners like Caledonia to lift output. In a statement, Caledonia - which operates the 80,000-ounce-per-year Blanket mine in Zimbabwe - said demand for the offering from U.S. institutional investors exceeded $600 million. "Receiving more than $600 million of demand from high-quality North American investors is a tremendous endorsement of our strategy, the quality of our assets, our operational track record and the long-term prospects of the company," Caledonia CEO Mark Learmonth said. Caledonia said the bond issue is part of a broader strategy it is pursuing to fund Bilboes, which is expected to start production in late 2028. The mine is expected to reach annual output of 200,000 ounces from 2029 for an initial period of 10 years. The company is also arranging a $150 million funding facility with a consortium of Zimbabwean and South African banks and will also engage regional and global lenders for Bilboes financing. The Bilboes project has an expected total cost of $584 million and peak funding requirements of $484 million. Zimbabwe's gold output plunged to 3 metric tons during the height of its economic and political crisis in 2008. It has more than doubled production over the past decade to an all-time high of 47 metric tons in 2025. (Reporting by Chris Takudzwa Muronzi, editing by Nelson Banya and Thomas Derpinghaus) ((ChrisTakudzwa.Muronzi@thomsonreuters.com;))