By: Mining review Africa

Executive Shake Up at Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold announced the immediate departure of CEO Mark Bristow The primary catalyst was the deteriorating situation at its flagship Loulo Gounkoto mine in Mali where the company lost control of the complex had gold seized by the government and took a billion dollar write off Additional factors for his departure included the company's stock underperformance compared to peers a reported personality clash with the chairman and concerns over its geopolitical risk exposure

Botswana's Economic Diversification Strategy

Botswana plans to launch a citizenship by investment program in to diversify its economy away from diamonds This strategic pivot is a direct response to a prolonged downturn in the global diamond market which has caused the nation's economy to contract The funds raised will be directed to priority sectors including housing tourism renewable energy and financial services

Golconda Gold's Growth and Expansion Plan

Golconda Gold is pursuing a strategy to triple production without diluting shareholders by using operating cash flow to fund growth The company is anchored by two assets the producing Galaxy gold mine in South Africa and the Summit silver gold project in New Mexico A key part of its plan is to restart the Summit mine in Q and spin it out as a standalone US focused entity by Q

Equatorial Guinea's New Energy Licensing Round

Equatorial Guinea will open a new oil and gas licensing round in April offering blocks to counter its rapidly declining oil production The country's output has fallen sharply from a peak of barrels per day in to just in In a related development Chevron has agreed on terms to develop the Aseng gas project supporting the country's ambition to become a regional gas hub

Kavango Resources Builds a New Gold Camp in Zimbabwe

Kavango Resources has acquired a commanding position in Zimbabwe's Filabusi goldfield through the purchase of the Hillside and Nara projects The company is currently producing a small amount of gold from Hillside and is executing an expansion plan aiming to have a tonne per day processing facility operational by mid This expansion is projected to increase its gold production to between and kilograms per month

Kavango's Strategic Vision and Exploration Success

Kavango's strategy involves introducing modern Australian mining methods to Zimbabwe which it believes is geologically analogous to Western Australia but underexplored with modern technology Aggressive drilling at its projects has yielded highly encouraging results indicating the gold systems are larger than previously known The company is well funded for its expansion backed by a major investor and financing from Zimbabwean pension funds