Tertiary Minerals plc’s earn-in partner is approaching the deeper-than-planned drill depth of 3,000 metres in the first hole at the Konkola West copper project in Zambia.
GROUND-BREAKING
The company said that operator KoBold Metals Company had drilled past 2,600m in hole KWDD001 and was drilling in the Kitwe Formation, which forms the upper part of the Lower Roan Subgroup.
The formation’s base hosts the ore shale (copper belt orebody member) of the Zambian Copperbelt.
KoBold said that KWDD001 was, to its knowledge, the “deepest hole ever drilled” on the Zambian Copperbelt.
“The drill hole is currently in the shale with grit unit of the Kitwe Formation, the base of which
is typically between 25-225m above the ore shale in the Konkola area1,” noted Tertiary.
The company added that the deeper target and longer operations were due to folding, “possibly along an extension of the major Fitwaola fault system”.
Operations took longer than expected, with slower drilling as the hole grow deeper, because of the increasing time needed to recover drill core from the drill face.
Reaching the planned depth of 3,000m depends on conditions and equipment.
On completion of the first hole KoBold plans to drill a second in one of a number of possible locations where the Lower Roan is closer to surface.
A decision on the site will be made following further geological interpretation of KWDD001.
KoBold’s right to earn into large exploration licence 27067-HQ-LEL, signed in December 2023, was in return for completion of two holes and a minimum of 2,000m drilling within 14 months of the agreement.
Tertiary has agreed with its local partner Mwashia Resources Ltd to extend the 14-month period by four months to allow drilling of the for the second hole.
The companies also signed a second agreement to ensure that KoBold’s newly granted adjacent licence 38615-HQ-LEL will be under the terms of the earn-in to benefit all the parties.
Tertiary executive chairman Patrick Cheetham added: “We continue to be excited about our involvement in this ground-breaking project.
“The hole is close to its target and KoBold is gathering a large amount of data which, together with its regional data sets and AI models, will inform its choice of the drilling location for the second hole at Konkola West.
“KoBold is committing substantial funds to the project with expenditure of over US$2 million
already reported through to the end of December 2024.”