Kavango Resources plc has announced its first JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate for the Bill’s Luck Gold Mine, marking a significant technical and commercial milestone for the company’s Hillside Gold Project in Zimbabwe.
The maiden estimate places the Bill’s Luck resource at 33,900 ounces of gold at an average grade of 2.68 grammes per tonne, confirming the deposit as a potentially viable underground mining target and strengthening the broader Hillside resource base.
According to the company, the resource is classified across measured, indicated and inferred categories, with 2,600 ounces at 3.3 grammes per tonne in the measured category, 13,400 ounces at 2.7 grammes per tonne in the indicated category, and 18,000 ounces at 2.6 grammes per tonne in the inferred category. Following the update, the total JORC compliant gold resource within the Hillside project area now stands at 52,900 ounces.
The estimate is reported at a cut off grade of 0.5 grammes per tonne, based on a gold price assumption of US$3,000 per ounce. This pricing benchmark reflects a strong global gold market and improves the economic envelope under which lower grade material can still be considered potentially mineable.
From a geological perspective, Kavango Resources says gold mineralisation at Bill’s Luck is structurally and hydrothermally controlled, concentrated within and along shear zones. The alteration pattern is defined by quartz, sericite and chlorite assemblages with disseminated sulphides, frequently associated with syntectonic quartz sulphide veins. This style of mineralisation is consistent with several productive gold systems in Zimbabwe’s greenstone belts, suggesting exploration upside beyond the current model.
Importantly, the company notes that the deposit remains open both at depth and along strike, indicating room for resource growth through additional drilling. That exploration upside is central to Kavango’s strategy of progressively upgrading inferred resources into higher confidence categories while expanding the overall ounce base.
The mining approach is expected to focus on underground methods, with planning designed to minimise dilution and optimise grade control. Processing assumptions are based on an estimated cost of about US$25 per tonne, which, together with the selected cut off grade, feeds into the resource modelling and development screening.
On the production side, Kavango Resources is preparing to commission a 50 tonne per day carbon in pulp processing plant at Hillside in the first quarter of 2026. The plant is expected to support early stage production and cash flow generation, while further drilling and technical work continue across the project area.
From a development and investment standpoint, a JORC compliant resource estimate carries weight because it provides an independently reportable standard that investors, lenders and technical partners can rely on. By converting historical and recent drilling data into a compliant resource, Kavango Resources reduces geological uncertainty and improves the project’s bankability profile.
For Zimbabwe’s gold sector, the Bill’s Luck resource update adds another formally defined deposit to the country’s small to mid scale development pipeline, reinforcing the role of junior and mid tier miners in sustaining output growth alongside established producers.
