Almot Maqolo, Staff Writer 
SHAMVA Mine, a subsidiary of state-controlled Kuvimba Mining House (KMH) is riding on the soaring international gold prices to generate free cash flows to fund capital projects for expansion.
International gold prices have increased by around 23 percent year-on-year to current highs of US$ 2 386 per ounce (oz) from averages of US$1 930/oz in July last year.
Prices have been driven by a multitude of factors including heightened geopolitical risks and uncertainty in the global economy- prompting hedging tendencies in gold among investors.
JPMorgan Research estimates that gold prices will hit US$2 500/oz in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Rising gold prices not only help to improve short-term profit margins for gold companies but also lead to reduction in debt which is beneficial over the long term.
Shamva mine general manager Gift Mapakame, in an interview with The Financial Gazette last Friday said the company managed to maintain “steady” gold production in the first quarter (Q1) ended June 30, 2024 taking advantage of good prices.
“We have been able to maintain a steady production above 60 kilogrammes (kg) or 2 100 ounces of gold for the first quarter (Q1 2025). I think we are slightly above 200 kg of gold (7 054 ounces) for the cumulative quarter-to-date production.
“I must say that this performance could not have occurred at a better time, such as now when we are also experiencing a bullish market in the pricing of gold…The key benefit of that is that we are then able to fund our business capital organically from the free cash that we generate from positive sales variance owing to the price,” Mapakame said.
The miner has embarked on capital programmes aimed at building flexibility for production.
“We have also been able to initiate some of the open pitiable potential that we have within our mineral resource to augment our volumes so that the balance on the deficit of grade is mitigated by the marginal increase in mined and processed volumes,” he said.
However, the elephant in the room for the mine has been inconsistent power supply which has had
