{"id":142508,"title":"Kavango Resources steps up Zimbabwe gold production","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2026-11-02T15:09:54+00:00","modified":"2026-11-02T15:09:54+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/kavango-resources-steps-up-zimbabwe-gold-production/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/kavango-resources-steps-up-zimbabwe-gold-production.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/kavango-resources-steps-up-zimbabwe-gold-production.json","category":"Mining","categories":["Mining"],"tags":["anomalies","COPPER","Drill","Geophysical","gold processing plant","Hillside Gold Project","Jasper Musadaidzwa","Kalahari Copperbelt","KAV","Kavango Resources","Magnetotelluric","models","Nickel","rare earth","Rwanda","Tailings Storage Facility","Zimbabwe"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/47bd2950-ac3f-44d0-9411-d5bf893d0b69.png?fit=1727%2C911&quality=80&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"[Kavango Resources plc (LON: KAV; VFEX: KAV.VX)](https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/kavango-resources--kav/hillside-project-processing-plant-commissioned/9851918) has successfully commissioned its 50-tonne-per-day gold processing plant at the **Hillside Gold Project in Zimbabwe**, marking an important operational milestone as the company progresses towards larger-scale commercial production.\n\nThe company confirmed that **Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Mines and Mining Development formally approved the commissioning of the processing plant and associated Tailings Storage Facility on 30 October 2026**, following regulatory inspections and compliance assessments.\n\nBoth facilities were declared operational after satisfying the relevant mining, safety and environmental requirements.\n\n**The pilot plant is now processing gold-bearing material through crushing, milling, gravity concentration and carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuits**, allowing Kavango to evaluate processing performance under operating conditions.\n\nThe facility has been handling a combination of run-of-mine ore, previously stockpiled gold-bearing sands and freshly milled material from Hillside.\n\n**Gold recovered through the plant’s initial processing operations increased from 397 grams at the first elution in August to 539 grams in September**, providing encouraging early indications of operational progress.\n\nThe plant is designed primarily as a proof-of-concept facility rather than a full-scale commercial operation.\n\nIts purpose is to validate the processing flowsheet, optimise recovery rates and generate technical data to support the design and development of a larger processing facility.\n\n**Hillside’s Bill’s Luck Underground deposit hosts a JORC-compliant Mineral Resource of 33,900 ounces of gold at an average grade of 2.68 grams per tonne**, across the Measured, Indicated and Inferred resource categories.\n\nPrevious metallurgical testing on blended ore from Bill’s Luck and Nightshift achieved **gold recoveries exceeding 95% under laboratory conditions**.\n\nBased on those results, **Kavango is targeting operating recoveries of approximately 90% to 93%**, although these levels remain to be demonstrated consistently during plant operations.\n\n**Chief Executive Jasper Musadaidzwa** described the commissioning as a significant achievement for Hillside, highlighting its importance in establishing the technical foundations for commercial-scale gold production.\n\nHe said the operating facility would help the company refine its understanding of the orebody, confirm metallurgical performance and improve processing efficiency ahead of future expansion.\n\n**Kavango is also progressing several infrastructure upgrades at Hillside**, including the installation of a **13-metre headframe at the Bill’s Luck Main Vertical Shaft**.\n\nAdditional work includes improvements to power and water supplies, planning for further exploration and the development of enhanced employee accommodation facilities.\n\nThese investments are intended to support future increases in mining and processing capacity as the company advances its development plans.\n\n**For investors, the successful commissioning of the 50-tonne-per-day plant represents a transition from project preparation to operational processing**, providing Kavango with the opportunity to gather practical production and recovery data.\n\nHowever, the facility remains at the pilot stage, and the company has not yet demonstrated sustained commercial-scale production or confirmed the economics of a larger processing operation.\n\n**Attention will now turn to gold recovery performance, processing efficiency and progress on the Hillside infrastructure upgrades**, as Kavango Resources uses the pilot plant results to inform its plans for expanding gold production in Zimbabwe."}