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Caledonia completes sale of Solar Plant

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Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc
Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc

Caledonia completes $22.35m sale of 12.2MWac solar plant, unlocking capital for growth strategy

ST HELIER, Jersey, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (NYSE AMERICAN: CMCL; AIM: CMCL; VFEX: CMCL) (“Caledonia” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce the successful completion of the sale, on April 11, 2025, of its Zimbabwean subsidiary, Caledonia Mining Services (Private) Limited (“CMS”), to CrossBoundary Energy Holdings (“CBE”) for a pre-tax consideration of $22.35 million payable in cash. CMS owns and operates the 12.2MWac solar plant that supplies power to Blanket Mine. Under the terms of the sale, the solar plant will continue to provide Blanket Mine with power under an exclusive power purchase agreement, ensuring a reliable renewable energy source for the mine.

In September 2024, following a robust bidding process managed by Caledonia’s Zimbabwe financial advisors IH Advisory, Caledonia signed a conditional sale agreement with CBE to sell the solar plant, aligning with its strategy to focus on its core business of gold mining. This agreement allows Blanket Mine to maintain access to clean energy while enabling Caledonia to reallocate capital for growth.

The construction of the solar plant was initially financed by a registered offering of Caledonia’s shares in the USA in 2020, which raised $13 million through the issue of 597,963 shares. Since its commissioning in February 2023, the solar plant has generated over 57,722MWh of power.

Caledonia's consolidated net debt as at April 9, 2025 (i.e. immediately before the transfer of the cash consideration on April 10, 2025) was $3.8 million (December 31, 2024: net debt $8.7 million). Accounting for receipt of the cash consideration, Caledonia's pro forma consolidated net cash balance was $18.6 million.

Mark Learmonth, Chief Executive Officer of Caledonia, commented:

“We are pleased to have completed the sale of the solar plant, strengthening our cash position and enabling us to redeploy capital towards our core gold mining and expansion operations.

“By selling the plant for $22.35 million, Caledonia realises a profit on the $14.3 million construction cost. Importantly, we retain the exclusive energy off-take agreement, ensuring that approximately 20% of Blanket Mine’s daily electricity needs continue to be met by renewable energy.”

Matthew Tilleard, Managing Partner at CrossBoundary Energy, said:

“Energy provision is an expensive challenge for the mining sector in Africa. The acquisition of Blanket Mine’s solar PV facility is part of CrossBoundary Energy's ongoing commitment to providing the best energy solutions for the sector. Through a power purchase agreement, Blanket Mine will continue utilising the benefits of distributed renewable power, whilst freeing up capital for its value-generating mining activities.”