Tertiary Minerals plc has signed a technical cooperation agreement with First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FQM) for two of its copper exploration licences in Zambia.
PROJECTS
The Mukai licence 27066-HQ-LEL, in Zambia’s North-western Province, is next to FQM’s Trident project which includes the large Sentinel copper mine and the recently opened enterprise nickel mine.
The Mushima North licence 27068-HQ-LEL, in the Kasempa District, is also being explored by FQM and is prospective primarily for iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) mineralisation.
The two companies will form a joint technical committee to advance exploration and development of the projects as well as advise and assist Tertiary on technical matters.
FQM will also provide Tertiary with all its historical exploration data for the two licences and Tertiary will submit its exploration results to the committee.
Executive chairman Patrick Cheetham said that the agreement would not bind either company to any further agreement or grant FQM any first rights of refusal, and so was not commercially restrictive for Tertiary.
EXPERIENCE
“This agreement will turbo-charge Tertiary’s Zambian exploration in these two key licence
areas,” he added.
“We are set to benefit from FQM’s extensive and in-depth country experience, gained
over many years of exploration and mine development in Zambia and, importantly, its site-specific historical exploration in and around these two exciting projects.
“For Tertiary, the agreement will effectively harness the expertise of one of the world’s largest
copper producers without the associated cost, and in return FQM will gain first-hand knowledge of any new discoveries that we make, and will be in pole position, should we seek an exploration or development partner in future.”