The Johannesburg-based company borrowed $10 million from the African Export-Import Bank and a further $5 million from an unidentified Zimbabwean lender, Gura said by phone 23 June from the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
Metallon closed its five Zimbabwean mines on Nov. 6, saying it hadnt been paid for metal sold to the central bank. Gold mining companies in Zimbabwe are resuming output because they can now sell bullion directly to gold merchants rather than through the central bank, the Harare-based Chamber of Mines said on March 24.
Over the next five years we plan to raise production to 650,000 ounces a year, Gura said, without providing comparative figures. The proviso is Zimbabwes erratic power supplies, which must be overcome to reach targets, he said.
Zimbabwe produced 3,072 kilograms (6,773 pounds) of gold in 2008, 55 percent less than the year before. The industry has been hampered by power cuts and shortages of fuel that resulted from the economy being in recession for the past decade.
Bloomberg
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