Blanket Mine has received a renewed gold dealership license from the Ministry of Finance, the Zimbabwe Investor can reveal.

The mine, which is a subsidiary of Caledonia Mining Corporation, has now been enabled to continue exporting directly to a refiner of its own choice.

The mining corporation applied for renewal of its subsidiary’s gold dealership license in November last year following an increase in production at Blanket Mine.

The mine had previously shut down in 2008 citing unviable gold prices and stringent operational conditions on the local market as well as foreign currency shortages.

In applying for its gold dealership license, Caledonia Mine had proposed that Blanket Mine’s shaft number 4 should be granted import duty exemption status. It is not clear whether this proposal is still under consideration or was rejected altogether.

Under the license conditional ties, the proceeds from the sale should be paid directly into the exporter’s foreign currency account in a Zimbabwean bank and the producer allowed to retain 100% of the
proceeds, less 3.5% in royalty fees.

The mine also proposed that the license should be extended beyond 12 months in order to facilitate the raising of debt with a term longer than 12 months.

Expectations by government are presently high that conducive economic conditions should see the mining sector registering a 30% growth rate this year. The mining sector’s contribution to the GDP dropped from 7% to 2% in 2008.

Meanwhile gold prices yesterday reportedly rose above U.S$1.120 per
ounce on the international markets.