Gold mining and Zimbabwe: ‘A phenomenal, world-class opportunity’
Kavango CEO Ben Turney discusses the country’s ‘unmatched’ potential, partnership with Pambili
CALGARY, Canada (Dec. 8, 2023)—First-mover advantage. An untapped, world-class opportunity. And a mutually beneficial partnership, to boot.
Kavango Resources Plc CEO Ben Turney recently joined the focus IR/London South East Natural Resources webinar to discuss Kavango’s keen interest in Zimbabwe’s mining potential, and strategic partnership with Pambili Natural Resources.
Last week, Pambili welcomed Kavango as a key investor through the conversion into PNN common shares of a US$250,000 convertible loan.
“The opportunity in Zimbabwe, we believe, is unmatched anywhere else in the world,” Turney said, adding that various forces in play in Zimbabwe have “created an opportunity for a well-financed external player to come in and cherry-pick some phenomenal projects.
“Kavango is now uniquely positioned to take advantage of this opportunity that we see in front of us, where you have 23 Archean greenstone belts that haven’t really experienced any modern exploration. So we have a first-mover advantage.”
As for the Matabeleland region, where Pambili and our technical consultant Steve Smith are focusing our efforts, Turney offered: “The Matabeleland gold fields really are a phenomenal, world-class opportunity, and we believe there are tens of millions of ounces in large-scale, potentially bulk mineable opportunities that are yet to be discovered.”
Turney made note of a thriving economy in both Harare and Bulawayo, where he intends to relocate in 2024, driven by relatively small-scale mining. As it happens, Pambili’s corporate strategy is the consolidation of small-scale gold mines in Zimbabwe—many of which are currently producing ore.
“We do also have opportunities we’re looking at for near-term cash flow generation in Zimbabwe,” said Turney. “We just announced our investment into Pambili Natural Resources. That’s a first step (in) transitioning Kavango towards becoming a mining company.
“So while our short-term focus is very much on drilling, making that first discovery, we are also putting in place the foundation ready to be able to transition to mining itself.”
Watch the focus IR/London South East Natural Resources webinar here. Turney’s commentary on the strategic partnership between Kavango and Pambili begins at the 24:58 mark.