Prospect Resources targets copper resource growth at Mumbezhi project

Prospect is drilling about 18,000m at the Mumbezhi copper project, aiming to expand its 107.2Mt at 0.5% Cu resource.

Prospect has established a technical working group with cornerstone investor First Quantum, leveraging their extensive expertise in the region. Pic: Getty Images

• Prospect will drill 50 diamond drill holes and 140 aircore holes for about 18,000 metres

• Drilling will target resource expansion, particularly at the Nyungu Central and Kabikupa deposits

• Mumbezhi already holds a mineral resource of 107.2Mt at 0.5% copper

 

Special Report: A Phase 2 programme designed to validate potential for a large-scale resource at the Mumbezhi copper project is underway in the world-class Zambian copper belt.

Prospect Resources (ASX:PSC) has kicked off 18,000 metres of drilling using a combination of diamond and aircore rigs, which will target mineral extensions to Nyungu Central and Kabikupa, and investigate regional targets previously defined by geophysics and geochemical work.

The drilling will be supplemented by airborne electromagnetic (AEM) geophysical surveys over the project tenure, as well as a broad soil geochemical sampling programme which will include underexplored areas that have not been fully evaluated for their copper potential.

Prospect managing director and CEO Sam Hosack said the company was delighted to be drilling again at Mumbezhi.

“As well as targeting extension of the existing deposits at Nyungu Central and Kabikupa, our Phase 2 drilling is set to test further key regional targets at Nyungu North, Nyungu South and West Mwombezhi,” he said.

Exploration programmes supported by First Quantum Minerals

In April, Prospect entered into an investment agreement with global copper miner First Quantum Minerals, making a placement of shares to raise about $15.2m.

First Quantum is now a cornerstone investor with a 15% interest in Prospect and will assist with future exploration of Mumbezhi as a key technical partner.

First Quantum’s 200,000tpa Sentinel Copper Mine is just 25km from Mumbezhi, and faces declining grades and production levels in the coming years.

Prospect intends to leverage FQM’s long-standing track record in Zambia and deep technical, commercial, environmental, and social expertise to advance its own asset.

“It is exciting to be commencing Phase 2 exploration at Mumbezhi with our new strategic partner, and cornerstone Prospect shareholder, First Quantum Minerals, alongside us,” Hosack said.

“Gaining access to First Quantum’s breadth of regional exploration and development expertise, to complement our current multi-disciplinary exploration strategy, means that we are well placed to continue identifying further regional prospects, make targeted new discoveries that can be accelerated into production, and add potential new copper tonnages to the existing Mumbezhi Mineral Resource estimate at a far greater rate.”

Hosack says Prospect is well funded to pursue its exploration ambitions, with a proforma $24 million cash position following the recent placement.

Drilling deeper

Prospect has detailed the goals of this phase 2 drilling programme as follows:

• Extend and upgrade the existing mineral resource estimates at the Nyungu Central and Kabikupa deposits
• Generate maiden Inferred Mineral Resource estimates for the Nyungu North, West Mwombezhi and Nyungu South prospects
• Complete first-pass, shallow aircore exploratory drilling of numerous regional copper anomalies defined across the Mumbezhi tenure, including Kamafamba, Shikezi, adjacent to Nyungu South, and at Sharamba; and,
• Undertake focused diamond drilling to test depth extent of coherent copper mineralisation defined by the widespread aircore work.

The AEM geophysical survey will be undertaken by New Resolution Geophysics (South Africa), using their high resolution proprietary Xcite Time Domain heliborne system.

Prospect will also undertake wide-space geochemical programmes coordinated through its technical working group with First Quantum, taking advantage of the company’s extensive datasets collected over the past 25 years.

PSC will collate the data to generate new copper targets across its licences, in areas where very little historical sub-surface drilling has been completed.

The diamond drilling portion of the programme will also provide materials for comprehensive metallurgical studies, working toward a scoping study and evaluation of a potential open-pit mining operation.

Prospect intends to complete an initial scoping study by the end of 2025.

This article was developed in collaboration with Prospect Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Prospect Resources targets copper resource growth at Mumbezhi project