Tertiary Minerals plc’s partner will begin drilling later this month to test for deep copper mineralisation in the main ore shale at the Konkola West copper project in Zambia.
EXTENSIONS
Regulatory approval follows the earn-in agreement between the company’s 96% owned subsidiary, its local partner Mwashia Resources Ltd and the operator-subsidiary of KoBold Metals.
The project within 71.9km2 exploration licence 27067-HQ-LEL is 18km northwest of Chingola in the Central African copper belt.
Operations are targeting projected deep down-dip and along-strike extensions of the contiguous Lubambe-Mingomba-Konkola copper deposits to the east of the licence.
The combined deposits comprise a 15km-long continuous zone of mineralisation that
contained a pre-mining endowment of over 775 million tonnes grading 2-3% copper.
Konkola West, 2,000m southwest of Mingomba, has historic resource estimates with around 9 million tonnes of contained copper.
Chief executive Patrick Cheetham said that Kobold had been advancing its drill plans in parallel with the approval process.
“The first drill site has been selected, the drill contract has been let, drill site preparation has been completed and equipment mobilisation is in progress, with drilling expected to start by the end of April.
“This is a very exciting and potentially transformational time for Tertiary.”
The target shale hosts Vedanta Resources Ltd’s Konkola Deeps deposit while Konkola plans to develop one of world’s highest grade copper mine in the Mingomba deposit.