Why Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe represents one of the most attractive gold opportunities in Africa today.  Both in terms of value creation and geological potential.

Much of the country is underlain by the Archean Zimbabwe craton, similar to Archean cratons in the major gold producing regions of Tanzania, Australia and Canada.

The Zimbabwe craton hosts more than 6,000 gold occurrences and over 790 recorded gold mines, most of which have some current or historic gold production. However, Zimbabwe's total gold production and recorded mineral resources are significantly lower than those of other gold producing Archean cratons.

This has less to do with Zimbabwe's geology than with its political, economic and mining history. A relatively liberal mineral licensing framework has led to the rapid development of a large number of small scale mines, often several to a single reef or prospect. As a result, exploration and mining have tended to be carried out by smaller, local companies or individuals with limited resources.

Since the early 1980s, international mining companies with the funds and technology to push Zimbabwe's industry forward have generally been discouraged from investing in the country because of political factors. Greenfield exploration has been sporadic and limited turnover of mining property ownership has restricted new thinking.

With its agressive aquisition and exploration programmes, Whetstone plans to prove that Zimbabwe has a similar potential to other major gold producing regions.