Botswana Drilling Update
No summary for this filing – the full text is below.
Select text to share a quote on X · sign in to keep highlights & notes in your ARCM notes
Arc Minerals (LSE: ARCM), an exploration company forging partnerships to discover and develop Tier 1 copper deposits, is pleased to provide an update on drilling activities at its Virgo Project within the highly prospective Central Structural Corridor of the Kalahari Copper Belt ('KCB') in the Republic of Botswana.
Highlights
- Visible copper mineralisation intersected in drilled holes
- A total of 1,824 metres drilled
- Core samples being split and prepared to be shipped for assay
- Programme may extend past the original planned 3,000m
Nick von Schirnding, Executive Chairman of Arc Minerals, commented:
"I am very excited that our maiden exploration programme has intersected visible copper mineralisation. We are now expediting the processing of these core samples so that they can be sent for assay to assist with vectoring for further copper mineralisation within our license area.
On Zambia, I'm very excited to report that the drilling contractor is on site with drilling set to commence. We've also had encouraging and constructive dialogue with the Ministry of Mines in relation to the LML applications which are in the process of being resolved. A letter in confirmation of good standing with respect to our application over 33404-HQ-LML (Handa) has been received and we're awaiting similar confirmation with respect to 33403-HQ-LML (Zaco)."
Exploration drilling in the central part of the PL135/2017 license has intersected visible copper mineralisation above the D'Kar-Ngwako Pan Formations (DKF-NPF) contact, similar to the mineralisation intersected by Khoemacau within the Mawana Fold Discovery, and hosted within lower marl at the redox front and laminated siltstone units just above a massive limestone unit.
Copper mineralisation has been observed in the form of chalcocite and bornite blebs within carbonate veins and disseminations within the Lower Marl and laminated siltstone. Several cross cutting and bedding parallel veins with micro fault filled veins characterize the siltstone mineralised unit, while in the Lower Marl mineralisation is in the form of disseminations and blebs predominantly chalcocite.
To date a total of 1,824m has been drilled to date and as planned, a combination of Percussion and Reverse Circulation ('RC') drilling has been used to pierce through the overlying Kalahari sand cover to rapidly reach the target formation(s), before extending these holes with Diamond Drilling ('DD') through these formations of interest and down to and through the DKF-NPF contact. Out of the 1,824m drilled, 1,282m have been RC and 542m DD. The original plan envisioned drilling 3,000m, however, based on the success of these initial holes the program may be expanded to assist with vectoring and identifying the extents to the mineralisation.
The splitting of the drill core is currently underway and a batch of sample will be shipped to ALS laboratory in South Africa for assay.
Qualified Persons
Background on the Virgo Licences
PL 135/2017 Licence
The Company's PL135/2017 prospecting licence is surrounded on three sides by the prospecting licences of Khoemacau Copper Mining Limited ("Khoemacau"), who have recently been acquired by MMG for c.$1.9 billion.
This PL135/2017 licence is located towards the south-eastern margin of the Kalahari Copper Belt occupying a similar geological setting to that recently drilled by Khoemacau at their recent Mawana Fold Discovery and the Zone 9 exploration target, where economic grades of copper mineralisation has already been intersected by drilling. These discoveries are located at the north-western and south-eastern margins of the Company's prospecting licence, respectively.
Khoemacau's Mawana fold discovery has defined a possible economic zone of copper mineralisation that appears to trend towards and into the Company's PL 135/2017 licence (Figure 1.). The Company's recent scout drill holes intersected anomalous grades of copper mineralisation close to this apparent trend and confirmed an east-west trending DKF-NPF contact position approximately 5km long running through the licence.
A map of the licences is available here:
Appendix A - Glossary of Technical Terms
| "geochemical" | Refers to geological information using measurements derived from chemical analysis |
| "gossan" | is an iron-bearing weathered product that usually overlies a sulphide deposit |
| "g/t" | grams per tonne; equivalent to parts per million ('ppm') |
| "K" | The element potassium, abundance on surface can be inferred from radiometric surveys |
| "Pyrrhotite" | Pyrrhotite is an iron sulfide mineral with the formula Fe(1-x)S (x = 0 to 0.2). It is a nonstoichiometric variant of FeS, the mineral known as troilite . Pyrrhotite is also called magnetic pyrite |
| "syncline" | a trough of stratified rock in which the beds dip toward each other from either side. |
| "Th" | The element thorium, abundance on surface can be inferred from radiometric surveys |
| "U" | The element uranium, abundance on surface can be inferred from radiometric surveys |
Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.