[miningmx.com] — MWANA Africa reported a narrower first-half loss, driven mainly by a jump in production at its Freda Rebecca gold mine in Zimbabwe, and said it continued to be in talks with the government there about the issue of turning over a 51% stake to locals.
Foreign mining firms in Zimbabwe are in discussions with the government over a law that would require them to turn over a 51% stake to locals or face asset seizures.
“Mwana continues to engage with the Zimbabwe government, to meet indigenisation requirements for its operations … and is confident that a satisfactory solution will be found,” Mwana said in a statement.
In October, the AIM-listed gold miner told Reuters it had been talking to the government about the issue.
The April to September pretax loss was $0.7m, compared with a loss of $12.0m a year ago. Revenue more than doubled to $37.6m.
Mwana said first-half gold production was 21,893 ounces at Freda Rebecca, compared with 10,915 ounces in the year-ago period.
Mwana Africa’s shares, which have shed about 17% in value over the past six months, closed at 4.075 pence on Friday.
