CALEDONIA Mining Corporation secured $150m through a seven-year convertible bond offering on Wednesday to finance its Bilboes development, set to become Zimbabwe’s largest gold operation.
The debt issuance marks the biggest international capital raising for Zimbabwe in over a decade, signalling renewed investor confidence in a country previously avoided due to economic instability and policy unpredictability, said Reuters on Wednesday.
Demand from United States institutional investors exceeded $600m for the offering, according to Caledonia, which operates the 80,000 ounce per year Blanket mine.
“Receiving more than $600m of demand from high-quality North American investors is a tremendous endorsement of our strategy, the quality of our assets, our operational track record and the long-term prospects of the company,” CEO Mark Learmonth said.
The bond forms part of broader funding arrangements for Bilboes, which carries an estimated total cost of $584m with peak financing requirements of $484m. Caledonia is additionally arranging a $150m facility with Zimbabwean and South African banks whilst engaging regional and global lenders, said the newswire.
Production at Bilboes is scheduled to commence in late 2028, with annual output projected to reach 200,000 oz from 2029 for an initial decade.
The announcement coincided with spot gold prices surging above $4,800/oz, driven by haven-seeking investors backing producers to increase output.
Zimbabwe’s gold production has more than doubled over the past decade to reach an all-time high of 47 tons in 2025, said the newswire.
