Mwana Africa subsidiary, Freda Rebecca gold mine, has drawn down the final tranche of $6 million from a loan facility provided by the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC-SA) as it continues to ramp up production.
IDC, a self-financing, South African state-owned national development finance institution that provides finance to promote industrial and entrepreneurial development, extended a $10 million loan facility to the mine which saw it initially drawing down $4 million.
In a trading update to shareholders, Freda Rebecca said following the success of the Phase 1 refurbishment and the target production rate of 30 000 ounces gold per annum, the mine had drawn down the second $6m tranche of the project finance facility.
The facility is repayable in 10 equal installments over a five-year period.
The group said Freda Rebecca produced an average 2 741 ounces of gold per month for the three months to the end of June and while producing 3 937 ounces in July.
Mwana Africa said it expects the mine to achieve the Phase 2 target production rate of 4 167 ounces of gold per month in September 2011.
Said Mwana chief executive officer Kalaa Mpinga: “We are delighted with IDC’s continued support for Freda Rebecca. This loan marks a significant development for project finance into Zimbabwe.
“The production ramp-up at Freda Rebecca continues to progress and our expansion to 50 000 ounces per annum is well advanced.
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“Our objective at Freda Rebecca is now to optimise performance and maximise our exposure to the current advantageous gold price.”
Mwana Africa is a pan-African resources company with operations in Zimbabwe and South Africa and exploration projects and interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Ghana and Botswana. The group has a diverse asset base including gold, nickel, copper, cobalt and diamonds.
