Altona Rare Earths plc has diversified its portfolio with an agreement to acquire the 616 km2 metals and diamond Kabompo South project in Northwestern Province of Zambia.
EXCLUSIVITY
The deal with Sustineri Group Ltd and with the beneficial owners of Phelps Dodge Mining (Zambia) Ltd is for the entire issued share capital of Phelps Dodge, holder of exploration licence 21403-HQ-LEL in the Mufumbe District.
Altona said that the tenement was valid for copper, cobalt, nickel, lead, zinc, gold and diamonds.
The project lies 4km west of the Kamweji copper occurrence and 60km southwest of the Mufumbwe copper mine, along strike.
The company will pay £40,000 with the immediate issue of 800,000 new ordinary shares at a price of 5p, to transfer the exclusivity over the tenement from Sustineri to Altona.
Following issue of the shares, the company’s enlarged share capital and total voting rights will be 86,767,107, with no shares held in treasury.
A further US$150,000 will be paid in shares 12 months after completion of the acquisition.
SIGNIFICANT
Altona noted that Zambia is a safe and mature mining jurisdiction with “unique geology” dominated by the Central Africa copper belt, and more than a century of copper, cobalt and silver mining.
The company will begin exploration by reprocessing survey data and with an ionic leach soil sampling survey before defining drilling targets by the end of 2024.
“Securing an asset with enough potential to have historically attracted the attention of a major player in the copper mining industry is a significant achievement for Altona,” said chief executive Cedric Simonet.
“We are delighted to make our entry into Zambia with this acquisition; a country where world-class copper and cobalt discoveries regularly make the news.
“The Kabompo South copper project acquisition demonstrates Altona’s commitment to deliver on its updated corporate strategy through a careful selection of a limited number of high quality projects.”
The company added it was progressing the prefeasibility study for its Monte Muambe rare earths project with advanced metallurgical studies.