Galane Gold Limited, a Toronto-headquartered company, bought Mupane from IAMGOLD last August for US$34.2 million (P228.9 million at the time). The 14-year-old mine is Botswana's sole operating gold mine.Last week, Galane announced that in the four months since its takeover of Mupane, the mine sold 16,853 ounces of gold at an average price of US$1,697 per ounce (P12, 422 per ounce). The performance indicates that Galane Gold benefited from the historic prices the precious metal has been reaching in recent months, providing a perfect start for Mupane's new owner.
"Since closing the acquisitions, the price of gold has remained above levels used for internal modelling purposes," Galane executives said in last week's announcement."Based on current gold price levels, it is management's view that the operation will continue to fund all of its planned capital requirements, including its exploration programme, and generate additional free cash-flow for general working capital purposes."
