RESOURCES firm Caledonia Mining Corporation has appointed James Mufara as its chief operating officer with effect from May 1.
Mufara was previously at Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited where, as regional general manager, he headed a complex portfolio of operations consisting of five mines and 15 000 staff, mining 450koz (thousand ounces) of gold per annum.
In a statement, Caledonia chief executive Mark Learmonth said Mufara boasts of over 25 years experience in the mining sector in southern Africa, including 13 years in leadership roles.
“I am delighted James will soon be starting his new role at Caledonia,” he said.
“He will be joining us at a pivotal moment in Caledonia’s development and I know the team will benefit from his wealth of experience. I look forward to working with him.”
Caledonia said Mufara’s experience included deep-level underground mining and open-pit operations, which was relevant to its existing underground operation at Blanket mine and Caledonia’s development projects at Bilboes and Motapa that will be open-pit.
“I am excited that I will be joining Caledonia and look forward to working with the talented team to drive operational performance across the group’s high-quality portfolio,” Mufara said.
He holds a BSc in Mining Engineering and an MBA.
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Mufaras’ appointment comes as the group has decried high operating costs saying increased expenses for 2023 and several significant one-off, non-operating costs, in the final quarter resulted in reduced profit for the full year.
In its trading update for the year ended December 31, 2023, Caledonia reported that Blanket Mine had continued to perform well since the end of the quarter ended September 30, 2023, with full year production for 2023 at 75 416 ounces.
“It is regrettable that, at a group level, we have been adversely affected by a series of higher-than-expected costs in the second half of 2023 which have had a negative effect on the full year profitability,” Learmonth said.
