• Padenga surpassed industry giants, achieving over 1,500 kgs
• It exceeded Caledonia's output for the first time since its establishment in 2019
• With this strong track record of performance, Padenga is poised to dominate the sector

Harare- The diversified VFEX listed company, Padenga Holdings Limited, has achieved a gold output of over 1,500 kilograms during the cumulative nine months leading up to September 2023. This surpasses the output of Caledonia and potentially RioZim, which has not yet released its cumulative nine months results but was surpassed by Padenga in the first half of 2023. Padenga for the first time, also surpassed Caledonia in the first half in terms of output for the first time proving higher standards set by the Group’s management amid rising gold prices.  It is the first time that Padenga has outperformed these industry giants in terms of gold production, indicating the possibility of becoming the leading gold producer in the country if the current trends continue over the next five years.

Padenga Holdings Limited has not only surpassed RioZim in terms of gold output but is also outperforming all other listed gold entities in Zimbabwe. In fact, Padenga's latest output slightly exceeded Caledonia's output of 1,564.8 kilograms. This marks the first time that Padenga has surpassed Caledonia since its establishment in 2019, indicating its growing dominance in the gold production sector.

The diversified VFEX listed company, Padenga Holdings Limited, has achieved a gold output of over 1,500 kilograms during the cumulative nine months leading up to September 2023. This surpasses the output of Caledonia and potentially RioZim, which has not yet released its cumulative nine months results but was surpassed by Padenga in the first half of 2023. Notably, Padenga also surpassed Caledonia in the first half of the year in terms of output, highlighting the higher standards set by the management of the Group amid the upward trend in gold prices. This marks the first time that Padenga has outperformed these industry giants in terms of gold production, suggesting the possibility of emerging as the leading gold producer in the country if the current positive trends continue over the short term.

When Padenga commenced its gold operations in 2019, it produced 452 kilograms of gold, which was significantly lower than Caledonia's output of 1,087 kilograms. At that time, Caledonia's gold production more than doubled that of Padenga. However, as the years went by and Padenga established stability in its operations, the gap between the two companies' gold production narrowed. In 2020, during a nine-month period, Caledonia's output was only double that of Padenga's output, without any substantial additional margin.

In 2022, Padenga achieved a significant milestone in its gold production by reaching a historic output of 1,000 kilograms during a nine-month period, specifically reaching 1,480 kilograms. This brought them closer to Caledonia's output of 1,692.9 kilograms. However, in the most recent nine-month period, Padenga managed to surpass Caledonia, indicating strong management and performance. During the second quarter, the group underwent a restructuring process and acquired 100% ownership of Dallaglio, solidifying gold mining as its core operation. With this trajectory, Padenga has a high probability of dominating the gold mining sector in the future.

Similar to Caledonia's initiative of implementing solar plants to mitigate power cuts, Padenga is also undertaking the same approach for its Crocodiles unit. The installation of the third phase of the solar array has been completed, which will increase the operating capacity of the solar plant to a total of 1.2 megawatts. The commissioning works are currently at an advanced stage and are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The crocodile operations of Padenga have experienced growth during the nine months. The volume of harvested skin has increased by 30% to 24,115 from 18,530. As a result, skin sales have surpassed the previous period, reaching 30,586, which is a significant increase of 77%.

The group maintains a positive outlook and we anticipates that its full-year gold output will slightly exceed the target of 2,000 kilograms, provided that the current momentum is sustained.

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