Photo: www.mwanaafrica.com

HARARE (AFP)— Pan African mining company Mwana Africa on Wednesday 14 October announced its first gold production at their Zimbabwe Freda Rebecca mine, two years after it was closed due to the political crisis in the country.

Freda Rebecca, which was previously owned by Ashanti Goldfields, 70 kilometres (43 miles) northeast of the capital, made its first gold pour of 180 ounces (5.5 kilogrammes) after completing a refurbishment programme, the company said..

"Mwana Africa PLC is pleased to announce the first pour of gold following completion of Phase 1 of its refurbishment programme at the Freda Rebecca gold mine in Zimbabwe. One hundred and eighty ounces of gold ore were produced on 13th October 2009," the company said in a statement.

The company plans to increase its production from the current five kilogrammes a month to 930 kilogrammes by year end, the statement said.

Mwana Africa PLC is a pan-African resources company and listed on the London Stock Exchange?s Alternative Investment Market.

The company has operations in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and a broad range of exploration projects and interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola, Ghana and Bostwana.

"Freda Rebecca achieved production of 98,000 ounces (2,3778 kilogrammes) of gold in 2002. However as a result of the social and economic difficulties in Zimbabwe, output from the mine declined sharply and the mine was placed onto care and maintenance in 2007," said the statement.

It said under new economic policies promoted in early 2009 by the unity government of Zimbabwe the company decided to resume gold production at the Freda Rebecca Mine in March.

Zimbabwe was once a prime source of gold, platinum, chrome and dozens of other metals, but most mines have wound down their operations because of the high cost of doing business in the country.