Caledonia Mining Corporation has declared a dividend of seven and a half United States cents(US$0.075) on each of the Company’s common shares for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.
The board that had deferred the decision to declare the quarterly dividend on April 1, 2020 in light of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has been encouraged by the continued operation at its Blanket Mine and the re-opening of important supply lines
“A key consideration in the decision to defer the April dividend was uncertainty relating to Blanket’s supply chain from South Africa. During the initial lockdown, Blanket operated using its inventories of consumables and spare parts.
“However, the South African mining industry and its allied supply sector is restarting operations and Blanket has partially resumed the procurement of consumables and equipment despite the lockdown period being extended,” reads the company’s statement.
“The dividend is maintained at the increased level of 7.5cents per share following the dividend increase effected in January 2020.
“A strong balance sheet with current cash on hand of $14.1million at April 24, 2020 gives the directors sufficient confidence in the solvency of the business and its resilience in the current macro-economic environment,” reads a statement from the company.
The dividend will be paid on May 29, 2020.
Due to the permission from government that allowed mining companies to continue operations during this lockdown period, Blanket is now re-establishing full production having operated at approximately 93 percent of capacity during lockdown.
