African development banks expected to fund Caledonia’s new Zimbabwe mine, CEO says

African development banks are seen as the most likely funders of Caledonia Mining Corporation's planned $250 million gold mine in Zimbabwe, the mining company's CEO Mark Learmonth said on Wednesday. Caledonia, which already owns the Blanket gold mine in Zimbabwe, is updating a feasibility study ahead of the planned construction of a new mine at Bilboes to produce at least 170,000 ounces annually, making it potentially the country's biggest gold mine. Caledonia, backed by investors including BlackRock and Cape Town-based fund manager Allan Gray, is one of the few foreign investors – along with Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum – to brave Zimbabwe's tough economy marked by foreign currency shortages and episodes of hyperinflation.