Exhibit 99.2

Management’s Discussion and Analysis         

This management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”) of the consolidated operating results and financial position of Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (“Caledonia” or the “Company”) is for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 (“Q4 2022” or the “Quarter”) and the year ended December 31, 2022 (the “Year”). It should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements of Caledonia for the Year (the “Consolidated Financial Statements”) which are available from the System for Electronic Data Analysis and Retrieval at www.sedar.com or from Caledonia’s website at www.caledoniamining.com.  The Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. In this MD&A, the terms “Caledonia”, the “Company”, the “Group”, “we”, “our” and “us” refer to the consolidated operations of Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc and its subsidiaries unless otherwise specifically noted or the context requires otherwise.

Note that all currency references in this document are in thousands of US Dollars, unless stated otherwise.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Caledonia is a Zimbabwean focussed exploration, development and mining corporation. Caledonia owns a 64% stake in the gold-producing Blanket Mine (“Blanket”) and a 100% stake in the Bilboes, Motapa and Maligreen gold mining claims, all situated in Zimbabwe. Caledonia’s shares are listed on the NYSE American LLC (“NYSE American”), depositary interests in Caledonia’s shares are admitted to trading on AIM of the London Stock Exchange plc and depositary receipts in Caledonia’s shares are listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (“VFEX”) (all under the symbols “CMCL”).

¹ Non-IFRS measures such as “On-mine cost per ounce”, “AISC”, “average realised gold price” and “adjusted EPS” are used throughout this document.  Refer to section 10 of this MD&A for a discussion of non-IFRS measures.

² Gross profit is after deducting royalties, production costs and depreciation but before administrative expenses, other income, interest and finance charges and taxation.

Safety

Regrettably, a fatality occurred on February 21, 2022 and another on February 16, 2023. The fatalities occurred as a result of a vehicle accident underground and a secondary blasting accident. The directors and management of Caledonia and Blanket express their sincere condolences to the family and colleagues of the deceased. Management has provided the necessary assistance to the Ministry of Mines Inspectorate Department in its enquiries into these incidents. Caledonia takes the safety of its employees very seriously and, accordingly, measures have been taken to reinforce adherence to prescribed safety procedures. Safety is discussed further in section 4.1.

Bilboes Gold acquisition and tribute transaction

On January 6, 2023 Caledonia announced that it had satisfied the conditions precedent to purchase Bilboes Gold Limited (“Bilboes Gold”), the parent company that owns, through its Zimbabwe subsidiary, Bilboes Holdings (Private) Limited (“Bilboes Holdings”), the Bilboes gold project in Zimbabwe (“Bilboes”). Bilboes is a large, high-grade gold (sulphide and oxide) deposit located approximately 75 km north of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The total consideration payable is 5,123,044 shares (the “Consideration Shares”) representing 28.5% of Caledonia’s fully diluted shares (although subject to adjustment as mentioned below) and a 1% net smelter royalty on the revenues arising from the project.

Under the transaction, 5% of the total consideration shares (256,152 shares (the "Deferred Shares")) have been retained by Caledonia in order to make any adjustments to the purchase price after completion to account for any extraordinary liabilities incurred prior to completion.

441,095 of the total consideration shares that would have been issued to Toziyana Resources Limited (“Toziyana”) (the "Escrow Shares") have been withheld by Caledonia to be issued to Shining Capital Holdings II LP (“Shining Capital”) in settlement of a separate commercial arrangement between Toziyana's holding company and Shining Capital's subsidiary Infinite Treasure Limited.  The issue of the Escrow Shares to Shining Capital is subject to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe approval for the commercial arrangement between Toziyana's holding company and Infinite Treasure Limited.

Bilboes has NI43-101 compliant proven and probable mineral reserves of 1.96 million ounces of gold in 26.64 million tonnes at a grade of 2.29 g/t and measured and indicated mineral resources of 2.56 million ounces of gold in 35.18 million tonnes at a grade of 2.26 g/t and inferred mineral resources of 577,000 ounces of gold in 9.48 million tonnes at a grade of 1.89 g/t³. 

The main objective at Bilboes is to construct a large, open-pit operation that addresses the sulphide material.  However, in the short term, a smaller mining and processing operation will focus on the remaining oxide material. Mining activities on the oxide project at Bilboes started in the first quarter of 2023 and it is expected that the project will start to produce gold from the end of March 2023 and generate a cumulative profit within six months of commencement of activity. The oxide project also has the benefit of an element of pre-stripping for the construction of the main development.

Record annual Production at Blanket Mine

Production for the Quarter was 21,049 ounces and 80,775 ounces for the Year. Production ounces represents a 13.1% increase from the comparable quarter and a 19.7% increase from the prior year. Production for the Year exceeded the top end of our expectations and represents a new annual production record. At December 31, 2022 a surface stockpile of approximately 2,500 tonnes of crushed ore containing approximately 247 ounces of recoverable gold was unprocessed and is included in the production numbers for the Year.

Mineral resource and reserve updates at Blanket Mine and Maligreen

Blanket Mine

On February 6, 2023 Caledonia announced that the total measured and indicated mineral resources estimate at Blanket, inclusive of mineral reserves, had increased by 52% to 1,095,000 ounces of gold in 10.72 million tonnes at a grade of 3.18g/t and the total mineral reserves estimate at Blanket had increased by 1% to 395,000 ounces of gold in 3.94 million tonnes at a grade of 3.12g/t compared to the amounts stated in the technical report summary exhibited to the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F for the year ending December 31, 2022⁴.

³ Refer to the technical report entitled "BILBOES GOLD PROJECT FEASIBILITY STUDY" with effective date December 15, 2021 prepared by DRA Projects (Pty) Ltd filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) on July 21, 2022.

⁴ Refer to the announcement by the Company entitled “Mineral Resources and Reserves Update at the Blanket Mine” dated February 6, 2023.

The review of existing data, the completion of Central Shaft and the migration to digital estimation protocols allowed for an increase to the mineral resources estimate. The estimate was based on data at as March 31, 2022 for mineral resources and September 1, 2022 for mineral reserves.

A technical report detailing the above information was filed on SEDAR on March 13, 2023.⁵

Maligreen

On November 7, 2022 the Company published an announcement and an updated technical report on SEDAR⁶ updating the estimated mineral resources at Maligreen.  The report has an effective date of September 30, 2022 and estimates measured and indicated mineral resources of 8.03 million tonnes at a grade of 1.71g/t containing approximately 442,000 ounces of gold and inferred mineral resources of 6.17 million tonnes at a grade of 2.12g/t containing approximately 420,000 ounces of gold. The upgrade to the mineral resources at Maligreen improves the geological confidence of approximately half the mineral resources from inferred to measured and indicated mineral resources from the previous mineral resources statement.

Acquisition of Motapa gold exploration project

On November 2, 2022 Caledonia announced that it had purchased Motapa Mining Company UK Limited, the parent company of a Zimbabwe subsidiary which holds a registered mining lease over the Motapa gold exploration property in Southern Zimbabwe ("Motapa").

Caledonia considers Motapa to be highly prospective and strategically important to its growth ambitions in Zimbabwe in terms of both location and scale. Motapa is a large exploration property which is contiguous to Caledonia’s Bilboes gold project.

Motapa was formerly owned and explored by Anglo American Zimbabwe prior to its exit from the Zimbabwean gold sector in the late 1990s and is approximately 75km north of Bulawayo with a mining lease covering approximately 2,200 hectares.

Motapa has been mined throughout most of the second half of the 20th century; Caledonia understands that during this period the region produced as much as 300,000 ounces of gold. Whilst none of the mining infrastructure remains, the evidence of historical mining will provide guidance to our exploration team in best understanding the prospectivity of the region.

Solar plant at Blanket Mine

Caledonia‘s wholly owned 12.2 MWac solar plant was connected to the Blanket grid in November, 2022. The solar plant was fully commissioned early February, is operating better than expected and is generating slightly more power than anticipated. The solar plant currently provides approximately 27%of Blanket's average electricity demand and has significantly reduced the diesel generator fuel consumption compared to the usage in 2022. The addition of the solar plant has reduced the frequency of interruptions to production due to power outages and has contributed to a reduction in the amount of diesel used in production and capital projects.

Changes to the board and management

The following changes to management and the board were announced during the Year and up to the date of this MD&A:

⁵ Refer to the technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Blanket Gold Mine, Zimbabwe", with effective date September 1, 2022 prepared by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) on March 13, 2023.

⁶ Refer to technical report entitled "Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Report on the Maligreen Gold Project, Zimbabwe dated November 3, 2022 prepared by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd and filed on SEDAR on November 7, 2022.

Strategy and Outlook:  increased focus on growth opportunities

The immediate strategic focus is to:

Subject to the availability of funds, Caledonia will continue geological evaluations at Maligreen and Blanket Mine and commence geological evaluation at Motapa.

The strategy and outlook of Caledonia is further discussed in section 4.10 of this MD&A.

The table below sets out the consolidated profit or loss for the Quarter, the 12 months to December 31, 2022 and their prior period comparable amounts prepared under IFRS.

⁷ Non-IFRS measures such as “adjusted EPS” are used throughout this document.  Refer to section 10 of this MD&A for a discussion of non-IFRS measures.

Revenue in the Quarter was 6.4% higher than the comparable quarter due to a 9.7% increase in the quantity of gold sold partly offset by a 3.1% reduction in the average gold price obtained from $1,768 per ounce in the comparable quarter to $1,714 per ounce in the Quarter. Revenue for the Year was 17.1% higher than in 2021 due to a 16.7% increase in gold ounces sold.

The royalty rate payable to the Zimbabwe Government was unchanged at 5% for the Year.

Production costs increased by 29.3% in the Quarter compared to the comparable quarter; production costs for the Year increased by 18.6% compared to 2021 due to higher production tonnages. The on-mine cost per ounce increased by 10% in the Quarter from the comparable quarter.

Production costs in the Quarter increased due to inflationary pressures on consumable expenditures that contributed to a $15 per ounce increase in on-mine cost per ounce. Inflationary increases were incurred on key consumables such as explosives, diesel, cyanide, carbon, lime and steel products (rods, steel balls, and drill steels). High mining consumables usage added $13 per ounce to the production cost. High usage of explosives was due to achievement of lower advances per blast and secondary blasting activities. Year end inventory write downs equating to $563 for the year, largely on decommissioned drill rig spares, contributed to a $29 increase in the production cost per ounce. RTGS$ denominated administrative costs increases, predominantly to local authorities, further contributed to a $9 increase in cost per ounce.

Year to date on mine cost per ounce was 0.9% lower than the prior year due to higher production which spread production costs over more ounces sold.

The AISC per ounce in the Quarter increased by 11.5% from the comparable quarter and was 2.6% higher for the Year compared to 2021, due to the higher production cost, sustaining capital expenditure and higher administrative expenses.

The on-mine cost per ounce and the AISC per ounce increased in the Quarter compared to the comparable quarter as illustrated in the graphs below.

Administrative expenses are detailed in note 11 to the Consolidated Financial Statements and include the costs of Caledonia’s offices and personnel in Johannesburg, the UK and Jersey which provide the following functions: technical services, finance, procurement, investor relations, corporate development, legal and company secretarial. 

Administrative expenses in the Quarter were 1.1% higher than the comparable quarter and 31.3% higher for the Year compared to 2021. Administrative costs for the Year increased due to advisory services fees of $1.1 million incurred to complete the acquisitions of Bilboes and Motapa. Increased Johannesburg based technical services were appointed due to the increase in production at Blanket and to build up the skills required to perform the Caledonia feasibility study for the Bilboes sulphides project.

The depreciation charge in the Quarter increased because of increased production (fixed assets are depreciated over production ounces) on the Central Shaft assets following its commissioning at the end of March 2021.   

Other expenses are detailed in note 10 to the Consolidated Financial Statements and include an impairment expense on property, plant and equipment of $8,209. The impairment of the capital development areas, classified as property, plant and equipment in the Consolidated Financial Position, predominantly relates to prospective areas above 750 metres which are not included in the current life of mine plan. Other expenses also include community and social responsibility (“CSR”) expenses of $897, $830 spent to maintain the operating integrity of Bilboes before completion of the acquisition and an impairment expense of $467 was incurred on the accumulated expenditures incurred on the Connemara North exploration project in the prior year. Intermediated monetary transaction tax (“IMTT”) charged by the Zimbabwean government increased to $1,378 for the Year due to the presidential announcement made on May 7, 2022 to increase the IMTT charges on all domestic foreign currency transfers from 2% to 4%.

Net foreign exchange movements relate to gains and losses arising on monetary assets and liabilities that are held in currencies other than the USD. Large foreign exchange movements arose due to the significant devaluation of the RTGS$ to the USD which is discussed in section 4.9 of this MD&A.  The net foreign exchange movement in the Quarter was significantly higher than in the comparable quarter due to an increase in RTGS$ net denominated monetary assets in 2022 compared to 2021.

The tax expense comprised of the following:

The overall effective taxation rate for the Quarter was (48.5%) (2021: 38.8%); Year was 42.3% (2021: 39.1%). The effective tax rates calculated in the USD functional currency are not comparable between periods predominantly due to the Zimbabwean taxable income calculated in RTGS$. Further, as 100% of capital expenditure is tax deductible in the year in which it is incurred for tax and depreciation commences when the project enters production, timing differences can alter the effective tax rate based on the capital expenditure for a quarter. Large devaluations in the RTGS$ against the USD reduce the income tax paid and the deferred tax liability. Income tax payments are made in the same proportion of RTGS$ and USD as revenue is received. Deferred tax predominantly comprises the difference between the accounting and tax treatments of capital investment. The enacted income tax rate in Zimbabwe remained unchanged at 24.72% (2021: 24.72%). The majority of the tax expense comprised income tax and deferred tax incurred in Zimbabwe.

South African income tax arises on intercompany profits arising at Caledonia Mining South Africa Proprietary Limited (“CMSA”). 

Zimbabwe withholding tax arose on the management fees paid to CMSA and on dividends paid from Caledonia Holdings Zimbabwe (Private) Limited (“CHZ”) to the Company’s subsidiary in the UK Greenstone Management Services Holdings Limited (“GMS-UK”).  

IFRS basic EPS for the Quarter decreased by 286.9% from 33.3 cents in the comparable quarter to a 62.2 cents loss; IFRS basic EPS for the Year decreased by 8.8% from 148.6 cents in the prior Year to 135.5 cents. Adjusted EPS for the Quarter excludes inter alia the effect of foreign net exchange movements, inventory write downs, impairments of capital development not in the life of mine plan for mining areas above 750 metres and deferred tax. Adjusted EPS reduced by 2.4% from 42.1 cents in the comparable quarter to 41.1 cents due to higher production cost. Adjusted EPS for the Year decreased by 2.7% from 225.9 cents to 219.9 cents. A reconciliation from IFRS EPS to adjusted EPS is set out in section 10.3.

5 dividend tranches of $14 cents per share were announced during the Year. 2 tranches of $14 cents per share were announced in the Quarter on October 3, 2022 and December 30, 2022. However the $14 cents dividend per share tranche announced on December 30, 2022 was paid on January 27, 2023. Caledonia’s dividends are discussed further in section 14.

Risks that may affect Caledonia’s future financial condition are discussed in sections 4.9 and 17.

The table below sets out the consolidated statements of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 prepared under IFRS.

Cash generated from operating activities is detailed in note 31 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, showing that cash generated by operations before working capital changes in the Year was $47.8 million, 3.8% lower than $49.7 million in the previous year. Working capital inflows for the Year amounted to $1.9 million.

Tax paid in the Year excludes an amount payable at December 31, 2022 of $1.3 million. The amount will be partially paid after year end and partially offset against the VAT receivable.

Investment in property, plant and equipment remains high due to the continued investment in capital development at Blanket, which is discussed further in section 4.7 of this MD&A in sustaining capital investment and includes $12.2 million of investment in the solar project as discussed in section 4.12.

The acquisition of exploration and evaluation assets relates to the ongoing work at the Maligreen claims, a $1 million payment towards the Motapa acquisition and geological evaluations as discussed further in section 5.

Dividends for the Year comprise $7.1 million paid to shareholders of the Company and $1.8 million to Blanket’s minority shareholders as discussed in section 14. A dividend of $14 cents per share was announced on December 30, 2022 and was payable at the end of January 2023. Accordingly, the last dividend comprising an amount of $1.9 million was included as part of Shareholders for dividend in note 30 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

The effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash held reflects gains or losses on cash balances held in currencies other than the US Dollar. The effect on cash balances forms part of an overall foreign exchange gain or loss arising on all affected financial assets and liabilities.

The table below sets out the consolidated statements of Caledonia’s financial position at December 31, 2022, December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 prepared under IFRS.

Non-current assets increased due to the investment at Blanket in the Central Shaft and related infrastructure, electrical infrastructure and sustaining investment; investment in the solar project; and the acquisition and investments in exploration and evaluation properties.     

Inventory levels at Blanket reduced by $2.4 million and gold work in progress and ore stockpile increased by $0.4 million because mine production exceeded milling capacity for much of 2022 until milling capacity was increased in September 2022 after the commissioning of ball mill 10 (“BM10”). Inventories include 1,123 ounces of gold work-in-progress (December 2021: 443 ounces), and approximately 247 ounces (December 2021: 174 ounces) of recoverable gold.

Prepayments represent deposits and advance payments for goods and services. Prepayments decreased largely due to the reduction in prepayments in respect of the solar project that was fully commission in early February 2023. The Bilboes oxide prepayment of $877 relates to supplier prepayments made in anticipation of the mining activities at the Bilboes oxide project. This amount is expected to be recovered through revenue generated by the Bilboes oxide project from March 2023 onwards.

On August 1, 2022 the Group obtained approval from the Ministry of Mines and Mine Development for the tribute arrangement that allows Caledonia to mine the oxide portion of the Bilboes claims as discussed in section 4.10 of this MD&A. This is accounted for as a separate acquisition of a portion of the greater Bilboes transaction. The expected cost to restore the property, plant and equipment that is relevant to the oxide claims is estimated to be $0.9 million. The amount is to be offset against the purchase price of the acquisition following completion in January 2023.

Trade and other receivables are detailed in note 22 to the Consolidated Financial Statements and include $7.4 million (December 31, 2021: $4.5 million) due from Fidelity Gold Refinery (Private) Limited (“Fidelity”), a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (“RBZ”) in respect of gold deliveries prior to the close of business on December 31, 2022 and $1 million (December 31, 2021: $3.2 million) due from the Zimbabwe Government in respect of VAT refunds. The increased receivable due from Fidelity reflects the higher gold production and a larger delivery of gold at the end of the Quarter and Year. The full amount due from Fidelity in respect of gold deliveries was received as it fell due in January 2023. Also included in trade and other receivables is an amount of $0.7 million that relates to the VAT and duties tax, on the import of solar equipment, to be refunded to Caledonia Mining Services (Private) Limited (“CMS”).

Trade and other payables includes an amount payable to Voltalia Portugal S.A. in relation to construction of the solar plant of $1.8 million as discussed in section 4.12 of this MD&A.

Derivative financial liabilities decreased due to the gold loan that was repaid in full in the second quarter of 2022 and the significant decrease in the option valuations of the remaining options, as discussed in section 7 of this MD&A. The Derivative financial assets consist of put options purchased on December 22, 2022 from Auramet Trading LLC to hedge 16,672 ounces of gold from February 2023 to May 2023 at a strike price of $1,750.  These options were purchased to hedge the Company against gold prices below $1,750 for the quantity of ounces hedged.

The decrease in the cash-settled share-based payments value is due to awards that vested in the first quarter of 2022 and new awards granted to named executive officers (“NEOs”) are categorised as equity-settled share-based payments in the Year.

The distribution of the consolidated cash across the jurisdictions where the Group operates was as follows:

Included in the cash and cash equivalents is a restricted cash amount of US$1 million (denominated in RTGS$) held by Blanket Mine which has been earmarked to Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe as a letter of credit in favor of CMSA. The letter of credit was issued by Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe on September 15, 2022 in RTGS$ and has a 90-day conversion tenure. The cash on maturity was transferred to CMSA’s bank account, denominated in South African Rand, on January 13, 2023. On July 11, 2022, August 30, 2022 and November 1, 2022 $4 million, $2 million and $1.4 million was transferred from CHZ to CMSA.

The short-term portion of the cash-settled share-based payment liability is in respect of awards made to certain employees at Caledonia, CMSA and Blanket in terms of the Company’s Omnibus Equity Incentive Compensation Plan (“OEICP”). The awards (other than those made to the NEOs in 2022 which only settle in shares) can be settled in cash or, subject to conditions, shares at the option of the recipient. Of the liability outstanding at Year end $2 million was settled in January 2023.

The following information is provided for each of the eight most recent quarterly periods ending on the dates specified. The figures are extracted from underlying financial statements that have been prepared using accounting policies consistent with IFRS.

Fluctuations in profit attributable to owners of the Company on a quarterly and annual basis are due to, inter alia, substantial foreign exchange profits, inventory write-downs and other non-cash items as discussed in the relevant MD&As and financial statements.

The following safety statistics have been recorded for the Quarter and the preceding seven quarters.

The Nyanzvi safety training initiative was resumed in the previous quarter as COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed.

Regrettably, a fatality occurred on February 21, 2022 and another on February 16, 2023. The fatalities occurred as a result of a vehicle accident underground and a secondary blasting accident. The directors and management of Caledonia and Blanket express their sincere condolences to the family and colleagues of the deceased. Management has provided the necessary assistance to the Ministry of Mines Inspectorate Department in its enquiries into the incidents. Caledonia takes the safety of its employees very seriously and, accordingly, measures have been taken to reinforce adherence to prescribed safety procedures.

Blanket’s investment in community and social projects which are not directly related to the operation of the mine or the welfare of Blanket’s employees, the payments made to the Gwanda Community Share Ownership Trust (“GCSOT”) in terms of Blanket’s indigenisation, and payments of taxation and other non-taxation charges to the Zimbabwe Government and its agencies are set out in the table below.

CSR initiatives fall under six pillars of education, health, women empowerment and agriculture, environment, charity and youth empowerment.

Highlights of the CSR initiatives during the Quarter include the drilling of 20 boreholes in the Gwanda community area in conjunction with GCSOT.

At Sitezi, water was successfully harnessed from Thuli River using the sand abstraction method to supply potable water to Sitezi primary and secondary schools, Enqameni Youth Reflection Centre, and Sitezi clinic.

Beds and linen were procured for Sitezi clinic. IT equipment was also procured for Sitezi secondary school and the Youth Reflection Centre - 35 desktop computers and a server for the secondary school computer science laboratory, 7 laptop computers and 15 digital interactive boards for the two schools were supplied.

Desks and chairs for 390 learners were also procured for Sitezi primary and secondary schools. 17 staff desks were also acquired for the two schools.

GCSOT was paid $1.2 million in dividends during the Year. The dividend represents the full entitlement on GCSOT’s 10% shareholding in Blanket for the period, as discussed further in section 4.8.

Gold production for the Quarter was 13.1% higher than the comparable quarter due to a 21.3% increase in tonnes milled. Gold production for the Year was 19.7% higher than 2021. Production for 2022 was a new record and exceeded the Company’s guidance for the Year. Tonnes milled and grade are discussed in section 4.4 of this MD&A; gold recoveries are discussed in section 4.5 of this MD&A. 

An ore stockpile of approximately 2,500 tonnes (December 2021:  1,714 tonnes) existed at Quarter end due to the rate of mining and hoisting exceeding the milling capacity for much of 2022.

Production in January and February was adversely affected by a several factors including the temporary failures of certain items of equipment and the scaling of the hanging wall in several areas which has caused blockages in the ore handling system.  Management is confident that the remediating measures that have been taken will result in a recovery in production such that Blanket will achieve its production guidance for 2023 of between 75 and 80,000 ounces of gold.

Tonnes milled in the Quarter were 21.3% higher than the comparable quarter; the Year was 13.0% higher than 2021. The increased production is due to the commissioning of the Central Shaft at the end of March 2021; Central Shaft currently handles most of the development waste, which creates capacity at No. 4 Shaft to hoist ore.  From the end of the Quarter the Central Shaft was hoisting a combination of waste and ore.

Recoveries in the Quarter were 93.7% compared to 94.3% in the comparable quarter; recoveries in the Year were 93.8% compared to 93.9% in 2021.

Capacity constraints in the metallurgical plant were alleviated in the Quarter due to the commissioning of the new ball mill (BM10) and the repair of BM7. Power cuts and repairs and maintenance to the primary, secondary crushers and the gearbox of BM8 reduced the tonnes milled during the Quarter.

The installation of BM10 and repairs increased the metallurgical production capacity to 2,400 tonnes per day. The increased milling capacity enabled Blanket to increase tonnage milled from 1,976 tonnes per day during June, 2022 to 2,351 tonnes per day.

During the Quarter, Blanket finished construction of a conveyor and crushing system to feed ore from the Central Shaft to a primary crusher from which it will be transported to the metallurgical plant which is located approximately 800 metres away, close to the No. 4 Shaft. The project was commissioned in November 2022.

A narrow focus on the direct costs of production (mainly labour, electricity and consumables) does not fully reflect the total cost of gold production.  Accordingly, cost per ounce data for the Quarter and the comparable quarter have been prepared in accordance with the Guidance Note issued by the World Gold Council on June 23, 2013 and is set out in the table below on the following bases: 

A reconciliation of costs per ounce to IFRS production costs is set out in section 10.

On-mine cost

On-mine cost comprises labour, electricity, consumables, and other costs such as security and insurance.  Production costs are detailed in note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. On-mine costs include the procurement margin paid to CMSA. CMSA purchasing represents a fair value that Blanket would pay for consumables if they were sourced from a third party.

On-mine cost per ounce for the Quarter was 10% higher than the comparable quarter due to the increased production costs as discussed in section 3 of this MD&A. On-mine cost increases were partly offset by a lower electricity charge due to the free test electricity from the solar plant during its commissioning phase (Nov-Jan) and the installation of two autotap changers on the No. 4 Shaft incoming electricity supply line which reduced the frequency of power interruptions resulting from power surges and significantly reduced the generator use to support production and hence the power expense incurred during the Quarter.

On-mine cost per ounce for the Year are within the guidance range of between $669 to $736 per ounce.

All-in sustaining cost

All-in sustaining cost excludes the intercompany procurement margin as this reflects the consolidated cost incurred at the Group level.  The all-in sustaining cost per ounce for the Quarter and the Year were 11.5% and 2.6% higher respectively than the comparable periods due to the higher administrative costs as discussed in section 3 of this MD&A as well as higher sustaining capital expenditure. Inventory write downs of drill rigs were excluded from all-in sustaining cost as the cost is not representative of normal production costs but rather the discontinuation of spares for the particular type of drill rig and spares purchased. The drill rig and spares were written down to net realisable value in the Quarter. All-in sustaining cost per ounce for the Year of $878 per ounce was below the guidance range of between $880 to $970 per ounce (excluding CSR expenditure).

⁸On-mine cost per ounce, all-in sustaining cost per ounce and all-in cost per ounce are non-IFRS measures.  Refer to section 10 for a reconciliation of these amounts to IFRS.  

All-in cost

All-in cost includes investment in expansion projects at Blanket which remained at a high level in the Quarter due to the continued investment, as discussed in section 4.7 of this MD&A. All-in cost does not include pre-feasibility investment in exploration and evaluation projects.

The main capital development project is the infrastructure which will allow for production at 30 and 34 levels below the current operations; another level (38 level) is intended to be added in due course via a decline construction. Central Shaft is currently being used to hoist development waste, people and material – thereby freeing up capacity at No. 4 Shaft to hoist ore.  Work in the Quarter at Central Shaft included construction of the grizzly rock passes at the ore passes on 26 and 30 levels that is 50% complete, mining of the clear and dirty water sumps at 34 level, and the completion of the raise boring return airway connecting 30 and 34 level and the conveyor and primary crushing plant on surface.  Development from Central Shaft has continued northwards and southwards on 26, 30 and 34 levels towards AR South and Eroica. The total development metres achieved in the Quarter was 582 metres compared to 1,527 metres in the previous quarter and the budgeted advance of 800 metres.

In addition to the Central Shaft, work continued on the following developments:

The Caledonia board has approved approximately $3 million capital programme to address the remaining issues relating to the electricity supply from the grid which includes installing capacitors to improve the power utilization efficiency and installing further autotap changers to stabilize the power at Central Shaft. The table below shows spending on capital development projects for the twelve months to the end of the Quarter:

Transactions that implemented the indigenisation of Blanket (which expression in this section and in certain other sections throughout this MD&A refers to the Zimbabwe company that owns Blanket) were completed on September 5, 2012 following which Caledonia owned 49% of Blanket and received a Certificate of Compliance from the Zimbabwe Government which confirms that Blanket is fully compliant with the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.

Following the appointment of President Mnangagwa in 2017 the requirement for gold mining companies to be indigenised was removed by a change in legislation with effect from March 2018. On November 6, 2018, the Company announced that it had entered into a sale agreement with Fremiro Investments (Private) Limited (“Fremiro”) to purchase Fremiro’s 15% shareholding in Blanket for a gross consideration of $16.7 million which was to be settled through a combination of the cancellation of the loan between the two entities which stood at $11.5 million as at June 30, 2018 and the issue of 727,266 new shares in Caledonia at an issue price of $7.15 per share.  This transaction was completed on January 20, 2020 following which Caledonia has a 64% shareholding in Blanket and Fremiro held approximately 6.3% of Caledonia’s enlarged issued share capital. 

As a 64% shareholder, Caledonia receives 64% of Blanket’s dividends plus the repayment of vendor facilitation loans which were extended by Blanket to certain of the indigenous shareholders.  The outstanding balance of the facilitation loans at December 31, 2022 was $15.0 million (December 31, 2021: $16.7). The facilitation loans (including interest thereon) are repaid by way of dividends from Blanket; 80% of the dividends declared by Blanket which are attributable to the beneficiaries of the facilitation loans are used to repay such loans and the remaining 20% unconditionally accrues to the respective indigenous shareholders.  The dividends attributable to GCSOT, which holds 10% of Blanket, were withheld by Blanket to repay the advance dividends which were paid to GCSOT in 2012 and 2013.

The final payment to settle the advance dividend loan to GCSOT was made on September 22, 2021. Dividends to GCSOT after that date are unencumbered.

The facilitation loans are not shown as receivables in Caledonia’s financial statements in terms of IFRS. These loans are effectively equity instruments as their only means of repayment is via dividend distributions from Blanket. Caledonia continues to consolidate Blanket for accounting purposes. Further information on the accounting effects of indigenisation at Blanket is set out in note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Monetary Conditions

The current situation in Zimbabwe can be summarized as follows:

Electricity supply

The poor quality of electricity supply from the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (“ZESA”) is the most significant production risk at Blanket. During the Year, Blanket experienced interruptions to its power supply from the grid due to an imbalance between electricity demand and supply. The supply from the grid is also subject to frequent surges and dips in voltage which, if not controlled, cause severe damage to Blanket’s electrical equipment. In the absence of equipment to control these surges, Blanket switched from grid power to diesel power if it experienced significant power surges – although this allows activity to continue, supplementary generator use increases the production and capital expenditure at Blanket. The continued deterioration in the ZESA supply means that the power factor regularly fell to 60%, which meant that Blanket was effectively paying for 100% of the power but received only 60% and the power supply is subject to outages.

The following initiatives have been implemented or are planned to alleviate the power issues:

Water supply

Blanket uses water in the metallurgical process. Blanket is situated in a semi-arid region and rainfall typically only occurs in the period November to February. The 2021/2022 rainy season has been adequate, and management believes water supply is satisfactory.

Taxation

The main elements of the Zimbabwe tax regime insofar as it affects Blanket and Caledonia are as follows:

Blanket Mine

As discussed in section 4.7, following the commissioning of the Central Shaft, production is expected to be maintained between 75,000 - 80,000 ounces per annum onwards. The Central Shaft will also create the operational flexibility to establish drilling platforms and resume deep-level exploration drilling. Refer to section 5 for the update to Blanket Mine’s mineral resources and mineral reserves.

Production Guidance

Consolidated production guidance for 2023 is between 87,500 - 97,000 ounces. Production of 12,500 - 17,000 ounces are expected from the Bilboes oxide project and between 75,000 - 80,000 ounces from Blanket.

The critical factors that influence whether the Bilboes oxides project and Blanket can achieve its targets include:

This is forward looking information as defined by National Instrument 51-102. Refer to section 18 of this MD&A for further information on forward looking statements.

Cost Guidance

The Group’s consolidated on-mine cost per ounce guidance for 2023 is in the range of $900 to $1,000 per ounce; guidance for consolidated AISC is $1,150 to $1,250 per ounce (excluding CSR costs). Bilboes oxide project on-mine cost is expected to be between $1,200-$1,320 per ounce and on-mine cost for Blanket between $770-$850 per ounce (excluding CSR costs). This is forward looking information as defined by National Instrument 51-102. Refer to section 18 of this MD&A for further information on forward looking statements.

Capital Expenditure

Capital expenditure at Blanket in 2023 is budgeted to   be $30.9 million (inclusive of CMSA’s mark-up). Capital expenditures include:

The Bilboes oxide project capital expenditures for 2023 amount to $540 as most of the infrastructure to mine the oxide project was in place at acquisition. Exploration capital expenditure at Bilboes, Motapa and Maligreen is budgeted at $3.6 million.

Strategy

The immediate strategic focus is to:

Caledonia will continue geological evaluations at the Maligreen and the Blanket Mine claims areas with the objective of increasing the confidence level of the existing estimated mineral resource base as discussed in section 5 of this MD&A. Further geological evaluation plans at Motapa are underway.  

Caledonia will evaluate further investment opportunities in Zimbabwe and elsewhere having regard to its funding and management capacity.

Blanket employs over 2,000 employees the vast majority of whom live with their dependents on the mine village. One case of COVID-19 was recorded at Blanket during 2020; 232 cases of COVID-19 were detected in 2021 of which there were, regrettably, two deaths - of an employee and a dependent. Further cases were detected at the Company’s offices in Harare, Johannesburg and St Helier. 28 cases of COVID-19 were recorded in 2022. Blanket procured sufficient doses of an approved vaccine for all adult employees and their spouses; as at December 31, 2022, 2,066 of Blanket’s employees and 1,030 of the Blanket employees’ dependents living on the Blanket site have been vaccinated on site.

Severe effects of COVID-19 have reduced globally and had no significant effect on production, costs or capital projects in the Quarter. 

As noted in section 4.9, Blanket suffers from unstable grid power and load shedding which results in frequent and prolonged power outages.  In late 2019 Caledonia initiated a tender process to identify parties to make proposals for a solar project to reduce Blanket’s reliance on grid power. In 2020, the Caledonia board approved the project and the company raised $13 million (before commission and expenses) to fund the project through the sale of 597,963 shares at an average price of $21.74 per share. Caledonia’s 12.2 MWac solar plant was connected to the Blanket grid in November, 2022 and was fully commissioned in early February 2023 at a construction cost of approximately $14.3 million. 

At the date of the approval of this MD&A the plant provides approximately 27% of Blanket’s total electricity requirement during the day. Completion of the solar plant coincided with an improvement in the supply of power from the grid which has substantially reduced the amount of diesel consumed.  In January 2023 Blanket consumed 18,000 litres of diesel compared to an average of 120,000 litres per month for the whole of 2022.  Whilst it is uncertain that this level of improvement will be maintained, the successful implementation of the solar plant is expected to result in a meaningful reduction in diesel usage.

In December 2022, the Caledonia board approved a proposal for CMS (which owns the solar plant) to issue loan note instruments (“bonds”) up to a value of $12,000,000. The decision was taken in order to optimise the capital structure of the Group and provide additional debt instruments to the Zimbabwean financial market. The bonds have an interest rate of 9.5% payable bi-annually and have a tenor of 3 years from the date of issue. The bond repayments are guaranteed by the Company and after December 31, 2022 up to the date of this MD&A $4.5 million of bonds have been issued to Zimbabwean registered commercial entities.

Caledonia’s exploration activities are focussed on Blanket and Maligreen. Management is in the process of evaluating a drilling plan at Motapa.

Blanket

There was no deep exploration drilling at Blanket in the Year. Deep level exploration drilling will re-commence after the related development, in the Central Shaft area, has been completed to provide access to new drilling positions.

On February 6, 2023 Caledonia announced that the total measured and indicated mineral resources estimate at Blanket, inclusive of mineral reserves, had increased by 52% to 1,095,000 ounces of gold in 10.72 million tonnes at a grade of 3.18g/t and the total mineral reserves estimate at Blanket had increased by 1% to 395,000 ounces of gold in 3.94 million tonnes at a grade of 3.12g/t compared to the amounts stated in the technical report summary exhibited to the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F for the year ending December 31, 2022.

The review of existing data, the completion of Central Shaft and the migration to digital estimation protocols allowed for an increase to the mineral resources estimate. The estimate was based on data at as March 31, 2022 for mineral resources and September 1, 2022 for mineral reserves.

A technical report detailing the above information was filed on SEDAR on March 13, 2023.Exploration at Blanket’s portfolio of satellite properties was suspended in 2016 so that resources could be re-deployed at Blanket.  Since then, the Company has evaluated other investment opportunities in Zimbabwe and has concluded that the satellite properties still owned other than GG are unattractive due to their relatively small size, low grade, limited exploration potential, operating complexity and metallurgical incompatibility with the existing Blanket plant.  The GG satellite property remains on care and maintenance.

Maligreen                    

Caledonia purchased the mining claims over the area known as Maligreen, situated in the Zimbabwe Midlands, for a cash consideration of US$4 million in November 2021. Maligreen is a substantial brownfield exploration opportunity with significant historical exploration and evaluation work having been conducted on the property over the last 30 years. The total area of Maligreen is approximately 550 hectares comprising two historic open pit mining operations which produced approximately 20,000 ounces of gold mined from oxides between 2000 and 2002 after which the operation was closed.

Since Caledonia acquired the Maligreen claims it has been focused on reviewing the geological work conducted at the property with a view to upgrading the mineral resources. On November 7, 2022 the Company published an announcement and an updated technical report on SEDAR⁹ updating the estimated mineral resources at Maligreen.  The report has an effective date of September 30, 2022 and estimates measured and indicated mineral resources of 8.03 million tonnes at a grade of 1.71g/t containing approximately 442,000 ounces of gold and inferred mineral resources of 6.17 million tonnes at a grade of 2.12g/t containing approximately 420,000 ounces of gold. The upgrade to the mineral resources at Maligreen improves the geological confidence of approximately half the mineral resources from inferred to measured and indicated mineral resources from the previous mineral resources statement.

An analysis of investments is set out below.

Investment in property, plant and equipment at Blanket is discussed in section 4.7 of this MD&A; investment in solar is as discussed in section 4.12; investment in exploration and evaluation assets is as set out in section 5.

⁹ Refer to technical report entitled "Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Report on the Maligreen Gold Project, Zimbabwe dated November 3, 2022 prepared by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd and filed on SEDAR on November 7, 2022.

Acquisition of Motapa gold exploration project

On November 2, 2022 Caledonia announced that it had purchased Motapa Mining Company UK Limited, the parent company of a Zimbabwe subsidiary which holds a registered mining lease over the Motapa gold exploration property in Southern Zimbabwe ("Motapa").

Caledonia considers Motapa to be highly prospective and strategically important to its growth ambitions in Zimbabwe in terms of both location and scale. Motapa is a large exploration property which is contiguous to Caledonia’s Bilboes gold project.

Motapa was formerly owned and explored by Anglo American Zimbabwe prior to its exit from the Zimbabwean gold sector in the late 1990s and is approximately 75km north of Bulawayo with a mining lease covering approximately 2,200 hectares.

Motapa has been mined throughout most of the second half of the 20th century; Caledonia understands that during this period the region produced as much as 300,000 ounces of gold. Whilst none of the mining infrastructure remains, the evidence of historical mining will provide guidance to our exploration team in best understanding the prospectivity of the region.

The acquisition was accounted for as an asset acquisition as the net assets acquired do not meet the definition of a business. The purchase price of the net assets acquired was allocated to exploration and evaluation assets based on management’s estimation of the fair value at acquisition.

The initial purchase price of $1 million was paid on November 1, 2022.  Stamp duties of $41 were paid on November 9, 2022. There were no liabilities assumed with the acquisition of Motapa Mining Company UK Limited (and its Zimbabwe subsidiary Arraskar Investments (Private) Limited). The remainder of the purchase price of $7.25m was settled by the issue of loan notes (refer to note 30 of the Consolidated Financial Statements).

The aggregate principal amount of the loan notes is $7.25 million.  Interest on the loan notes is compounded monthly at an interest rate of 13% per annum, starting from the date of issue. Interest is payable on the principal amount of the loan notes outstanding from time to time on the date of redemption of the loan notes.

The loan notes are repayable on the following maturity dates:

Bilboes Gold

On January 6, 2023 Caledonia announced that it had satisfied the conditions precedent to purchase Bilboes Gold, the parent company of Bilboes Holdings. The total consideration was agreed at 5,123,044 Caledonia shares, representing approximately 28.5% of Caledonia's fully diluted equity (although this is subject to adjustment up or down to a maximum of 5,497,293 shares) and a 1% net smelter royalty on the project's revenues.

Bilboes is a large, high grade gold deposit located approximately 75 km north of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Historically, it has been subject to a limited amount of open pit mining.

Bilboes has NI43-101 compliant proven and probable mineral reserves of 1.96 million ounces of gold in 26.64 million tonnes at a grade of 2.29 g/t and measured and indicated mineral resources of 2.56 million ounces of gold in 35.18 million tonnes at a grade of 2.26 g/t and inferred mineral resources of 577,000 ounces of gold in 9.48 million tonnes at a grade of 1.89 g/t. 

The company understands that the project has produced approximately 288,000 ounces of gold since 1989.

A feasibility study prepared by the vendors indicates the potential for an open-pit gold mine producing an average of 168,000 ounces per year over a 10-year life of mine.

Following completion of the transaction in January 2023, Caledonia is commisionining its own feasibility study to identify the most judicious way to commercialise the project to optimize shareholder returns.  One approach that is being considered is a phased development which would minimise the initial capital investment and reduce the need for third party funding.

Caledonia has commenced the oxide project that is expected to be cash positive within 6 months of the commencement of work on the oxide project and will start generating revenues by the end of the first quarter of 2023. This also has the benefit of partially pre-stripping the area for the main development of the project.

Caledonia financed all its operations using funds on hand and funds generated by its operations, and Blanket’s overdraft facilities which were as set out below at December 31, 2022.

Subsequent to Year end the Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe $1 million overdraft increased to $4 million and the Ecobank facility increased to US$7 million both on the same terms as in the table above. Nedbank Zimbabwe extended an unsecured US$7 million overdraft facility to Blanket in 2023. As at the date of this MD&A $4.5 million of bonds were issued by Caledonia as discussed in section 4.12.

On December 22, 2022 the Company purchased put options to hedge 16,672 ounces of gold from February to May 2023, at a strike price of $1,750 per ounce. The put options were entered into to protect the Company against gold prices lower that $1,750 over the period hedged. Refer to note 14.1 of the Consolidated Financial Statements for the accounting treatment of the put options. At Year end these put options were the only hedging option instruments that have not expired.

On March 9, 2022 in response to a very volatile gold price, the Company purchased a matching quantity of call options at a strike price above the cap at a total cost of $796,000 over 4,000 ounces of gold per month at strike prices of $2,100 per ounce from March 2022 to May 2022 and $2,200 per ounce from June 2022 to July 2022 in order to limit margin exposure and reinstate gold price upside above the strike price.

On February 17, 2022 the Group entered into a zero-cost contract to hedge 20,000 ounces of gold over a period of 5 months from March to July 2022. The hedging contract has a cap of $1,940 and a collar of $1,825, over 4,000 ounces of gold per month expiring at the end of each month over the 5-month period. At the beginning of the Quarter, this hedging arrangement paid $416,000 due to the prevailing gold price that fell below the collar strike price.

An analysis of Caledonia’s capital resources is set out below.

Movements in Caledonia’s net cash, the overdraft and working capital and an analysis of the sources and uses of Caledonia’s cash are discussed in section 3 of this MD&A. The overdraft and term facilities are held by Blanket with Zimbabwean banks with security and repayment periods as detailed in section 7. The Company’s liquid assets as at December 31, 2022 plus anticipated cashflows exceeded its planned and foreseeable commitments as set out in section 9.

There are no off-balance sheet arrangements apart from the facilitation loans of $15.0 million which are not reflected as loans receivable for IFRS purposes (refer to note 6 of the Consolidated Financial Statements). The Company had the following contractual obligations at December 31, 2022:

The capital expenditure commitments relate to materials and equipment which have been ordered by CMSA and which will be sold on to Blanket and ordered by Blanket.

Other than the proposed investment in the exploration properties, the committed and uncommitted investment will be used to maintain Blanket’s existing operations and implement the final development relating to the Central Shaft which is discussed in section 4.7 of this MD&A.

Committed and uncommitted purchase obligations are expected to be met from the cash generated from Blanket’s existing operations and Blanket’s existing borrowing facilities and, in respect of the exploration properties, from Caledonia’s cash resources as augmented by the placing that was announced on March 23, 2023.

The Group leases property for its administrative offices in Jersey, Harare and Johannesburg; following the implementation of IFRS 16 the Group recognises the liabilities for these leases.  As of December 31, 2022, the Group had potential liabilities for rehabilitation work on Blanket – if the mine is permanently closed – at an estimated discounted cost of $2.9 million (December 30, 2021: $3.4 million).

Throughout this document, we provide measures prepared in accordance with IFRS in addition to some non-IFRS performance measures. As there is no standard method for calculating non-IFRS measures, they are not a reliable way to compare Caledonia against other companies. Non-IFRS measures should be used along with other performance measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. We define below the non-IFRS measures used in this document and reconcile such non-IFRS measures to the IFRS measures we report.

Non-IFRS performance measures such as “on-mine cost per ounce”, “all-in sustaining cost per ounce” and “all-in cost per ounce” are used in this document.  Management believes these measures assist investors and other stakeholders in understanding the economics of gold mining over the life cycle of a mine. These measures are calculated on the basis set out by the World Gold Council in a Guidance Note. The table below reconciles non-IFRS cost measures to the production costs shown in the financial statements prepared under IFRS.