Kavango Resources has officially commissioned its 50-tonne-per-day (tpd) gold processing plant and associated tailings storage facility at the Hillside Gold Project in Zimbabwe, marking a significant milestone in the company’s ambitions to develop a commercial-scale gold production operation.
The commissioning was approved by Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Mines and Mining Development on 30 October 2026, following inspections and assessments that confirmed the facilities complied with applicable mining, safety and environmental requirements.
In an announcement dated 2 November, the Southern Africa-focused exploration and gold development company said the pilot processing plant was now operational and would serve as a proof-of-concept facility to test its processing methods, optimise operational performance and establish the technical foundations for future expansion.
The Hillside plant processes gold-bearing ore through a combination of crushing, milling, gravity concentration and carbon-in-leach (CIL) technology. During the commissioning phase, the facility processed a mixture of run-of-mine ore, previously stockpiled gold-bearing sands and freshly milled material from the project.
Kavango reported encouraging progress in gold production, with output increasing from 397 grammes during the first elution in August to 539 grammes in September 2026. The company also confirmed that gold was being successfully absorbed within the pilot plant’s CIL circuit.
The results are expected to provide valuable operational and metallurgical information to guide the design, development and installation of a larger commercial-scale processing facility.
Significant resource potential
The Hillside project includes the Bill’s Luck underground deposit, which hosts a Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC)-compliant mineral resource of 33,900 ounces of gold at an average grade of 2.68 grammes per tonne (g/t). The resource comprises measured, indicated and inferred categories.
Kavango expects gold recovery rates of between 90% and 93% under commercial operating conditions. Previous metallurgical test work conducted on blends of Bill’s Luck and Nightshift ore achieved recoveries exceeding 95% under laboratory conditions.
The company believes these recovery prospects, combined with the project’s mineral resource potential, could position Hillside as a significant and scalable gold production asset within its portfolio.
Chief executive officer Jasper Musadaidzwa described the statutory commissioning of the processing plant and tailings storage facility as an important step towards commercial-scale operations.
He said the pilot facility would allow the company to optimise processing performance, establish metallurgical recoveries under actual operating conditions and improve its understanding of the orebody ahead of larger-scale development.
Infrastructure development continues
Beyond the commissioning milestone, Kavango is advancing several infrastructure projects to support increased production capacity at Hillside.
These include the installation of a 13-metre headframe at the Bill’s Luck Main Vertical Shaft, improvements to electricity and water supply infrastructure, the planning of future exploration programmes and the development of an upgraded employee accommodation camp.
According to Musadaidzwa, the company’s immediate priorities include improving operational efficiencies and collecting the technical and operational data required to design a commercial-scale processing facility.
The commissioning represents an important transition for Kavango as it moves Hillside beyond the development and testing phase towards a more substantial gold production operation.
While the 50tpd facility is not the project’s final commercial-scale plant, its performance will be critical in determining the technical requirements and expansion strategy for the next stage of development.
Sources consulted: Kavango Resources’ regulatory announcement, published through the London Stock Exchange on 2 November 2026; Mining Weekly; and Rough & Polished. The article consolidates the reported information while avoiding treating pilot-plant production as full commercial-scale output.
