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Business Reporter
METALLON Gold Zimbabwe says it will not shut down Arcturus Mine despite persistent losses due to low ore grade and falling gold prices.
Head of corporate affairs Mr Zenzo Nsimbi said Arcturus Mine was closed in April last year when production was affected by mine flooding. Arcturus used to produce 31 kilogrammes per month before it closed down but has failed to meet the previous target since re-opening in October last year.

Mr Nsimbi said Arcturus will continue operating because the company at the moment prefers small profit rather than suspension of operations.

“We re-opened the mine with the idea of getting value close to the surface ore, but the grades of the ore were not profitable enough to sustain the mine so we decided to revert to underground mining.

“Management resolved that after putting a few programmes in place, they could produce or break even or even make a small profit hence the mine opened in October last year,” he said.

However Mr Nsimbi said since re-opening, the mine has struggled to maximise profits with the mine now being subsidised by other units in the group, which have better output levels.

He said although the mine is making losses, management will craft a way forward to make sure the mine becomes viable and productive .
Last year Mr Nsimbi said the company had switched its mining operations from underground to open cast at Redwing and Arcturus mines to avoid huge costs of reviving the flooded mines. Metallon however failed to sustain Redwing through opencast mine and stopped operations.

The mines were heavily flooded and were making losses before they were temporarily closed, as did most other mines, at the height of hyperinflation in 2008. Despite concerted efforts to return Acturus Mine to profitability,  the Metallon unit continues to make loses.
He added that the mine was able to pay its employees but the fluctuations in gold prices were affecting viability. Mr Nsimbi said the Metallon is also making efforts to revive Redwing’s underground gold mining operations so that the unit starts operating at full capacity.