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ADU ReVIeW

Copper in the Kalahari

his year’s Africa Down Under Confer- Cobre looks to meet this hunger with whole new copper district.”
Tence saw plenty of battery metals on product from the Kalahari Copper Belt as Cobre has so far knocked off the
display and Cobre Ltd was no exception the company explores the Kitlanya East maiden diamond drilling programme at
as executive chairman Martin Holland and West, and Okavango and Ngami pro- Ngami, which saw four holes completed
spruiked interest in a potential new cop- jects. for 1,200m. Each hole, drilled 1km apart,
per district in Botswana. Following a $7 million investment to ac- intersected “significant” mineralisation.
“Without exploration, there’s no new dis- celerate exploration, Holland said experts “This strike length is equivalent to some
coveries and without discoveries, there’s consider the Kalahari as a high-tier juris- of the largest deposits that have been
no path at all to carbon zero 2050,” Hol- diction. identified in the Kalahari Copper Belt,” Hol-
land told delegates during his remotely “The Kalahari Copper Belt is regarded land said.
delivered presentation. “We’re a copper by the US Geological Survey as the No.1 According to handheld XRF readings,
focused explorer; high-quality exploration place in the world to explore for sedimen- grades at Ngami are averaging around
and a development pipeline to underpin tary-hosted copper deposits,” he said. 1-2% copper with peaks of up to 8%.
copper’s future growth in electric vehicles Cobre’s tenements are adjacent and Following Africa Down Under, Cobre
and the renewable energy sector.” along strike to Khoemacau Copper Min- continued its success streak as Ngami’s
Like lithium, nickel and a host of other ing’s Zone 5 deposit which delivered 92mt sixth drill hole intersected mineralisation.
battery metals, copper has undergone a between 2012 to 2015, and Sandfire Re- “Given the success of the first six holes
price squeeze due to its demand in EV sources Ltd’s T3 Motheo deposit which is in this diamond drill program, the company
batteries and other applications for renew- targeting production next year. is fast tracking exploration with a second
able energy. But Cobre makes a formidable peer in drill rig mobilising to site,” Holland said in a
Copper prices reached nearly the belt with the second largest tenement market announcement.
$US8,000/t in September and Bloomberg package, at 8,000sq km, and 55 targets First laboratory assays from Ngami
has reported on a potential supply short- across a 700km strike. were excepted by the end of September.
age as demand may grow more than 50% “This is a real district-scale opportunity,”
by 2040. Holland said. “We’re looking to open up a – Fraser Palamara

Sandfire backs Motheo’s expansion

lthough the initial build is not complete, The $US47.9 million expansion will applying a systematic, modern, disciplined
ASandfire Resources Ltd is already pre- take Sandfire’s total spend at Motheo to approach to the area, which it has not had
paring for the expansion of its Motheo cop- $US397 million but, according to manag- before, and the best is yet to come.”
per mine after announcing a positive BFS ing director Karl Simich, that is unlikely to Simich explained the untapped poten-
on the eve of Africa Down Under. be the end of the company’s investment in tial of the massive Kalahari copper belt
Motheo – 150km south of Maun, north- Botswana. by showing that the district had less than
ern Botswana – is set to produce first cop- “We intend to stay in Botswana for a 700 drill holes, equal to one hole every
per from its start-up 3.2 mtpa processing long time,” Simich said during the opening 50sq km.
facility in the June 2023 quarter. However, session of Africa Down Under. “We control The company continues to generate
such is the company’s confidence, it will a strike length of more than 500km and new targets, three years after acquiring
immediately press ahead with an expan- hold some 26,000sq km of ground. We are the project. Simich said the A1 Dome pros-
sion, incorporating development of the A4 pect – a 9km-long stretch of mineralisation
deposit and increase in processing capac- – was the current exploration focus with
ity to 5.2 mtpa. several other targets lining up behind it.
The expansion project DFS raised the “The A1 Dome is just one of potentially
project NPV to $US548 million and IRR to hundreds of targets we have along the
29%, with annual production pushed out belt,” he said. “I have no doubt there are
from 30,000 tpa copper over 12.5 years to more discoveries to come.”
a peak of 55,000 tpa and average of more On the construction front, Sandfire is
than 40,000 tpa over 10 years. moving at rapid speed, with some 70% of
The study was based on a combined re- the project now built. Simich said the entire
serve of 49.6mt @ 1% copper and 14 g/t project was on schedule despite the diffi-
silver (for 474,000t contained copper and culties of operating in a COVID world.
21.3 moz silver) from the T3 and A4 de- “It has been a challenging 18 months but
posits. we are very excited and we have certainly
Construction for the plant expansion is moved into the next chapter of the busi-
scheduled to begin in the March quarter ness’ life,” he said.
with the increased throughput operational – Dominic Piper
12 months later. Karl Simich

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