The historic Filabusi Greenstone Belt, long a cornerstone of Matabeleland’s mining heritage, is poised for a modern industrial transformation.
Kavango Resources, the London and Victoria Falls-listed exploration firm, has released comprehensive metallurgical testwork results that confirm the high-grade potential of its 100% owned Hillside Gold Project.
The findings represent a significant milestone for the region’s mining sector, proving that the gold hosted within the Hillside corridor is exceptionally responsive to standard processing techniques.
In ideal laboratory conditions, the company achieved overall gold recovery rates exceeding 95%.
Even when adjusted for real-world operating environments, Kavango expects to maintain a robust recovery range of 90% to 93%.
For the local community in Matabeleland, the implications are tangible. The testwork was specifically designed to optimise the 50 tonnes-per-day (tpd) carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing plant currently under construction at the site.
The data provides a roadmap for a planned capacity upgrade to 250 tpd, signaling a long-term commitment to the Filabusi area.
The Hillside project sits atop a large network of connected, gold-bearing quartz veins.
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While artisanal miners have worked these surface structures for decades, Kavango’s geophysical surveys suggest the mineralisation continues deep underground, pointing toward a much larger system than previously understood. The company is currently advancing four priority prospects: Bill’s Luck, Nightshift, Steenbok, and Britain.
Technically, the results are a “green light” for efficient production. The gold at the Nightshift prospect was found to be 100% native (non-refractory), while the Bill’s Luck sample showed 91% in a free-milling form.
Crucially for the project’s overheads, the ore contains very low levels of “gold robbers” like carbon or elements like copper and zinc that typically drive-up reagent costs.
“The team is extremely encouraged by these excellent metallurgical testwork results,” stated Peter Wynter Bee, Interim CEO of Kavango Resources.
He said the lack of excess grinding requirements or high reagent consumption gives the company “the confidence to continue building the resource base” with the aim of increasing production.
The study, conducted in collaboration with South African specialists Solo Resources and Maelgwyn Mineral Services, identified that a grind size of 75 microns is optimal for maximizing recovery.
Additionally, gravity recovery methods — using centrifugal concentrators — showed high efficiency, capturing between 50% and 90% of the gold.
One of the project’s unique adaptations to the Zimbabwean context involves its oxygenation strategy.
Due to the logistical difficulties of transporting pure oxygen, the plant will utilise hydrogen peroxide to enhance gold dissolution during the leaching process.
Test results showed that adding oxygen sources can increase gold dissolution by up to 10%.
As the 50 tpd plant nears its imminent operational debut, the focus shifts to the Nightshift and Bill’s Luck ores, which will comprise the primary feed. With assayed head grades for certain blends reaching as high as 8.26 g/t, the economic outlook for the Hillside Project appears as bright as the precious metal it seeks to extract.
For Matabeleland, this is more than just a laboratory success; it is the beginning of a new chapter in the region’s long-standing relationship with gold.
