Drilling started on the KSZ in SW Botswana

RNS Number : 8426P

Kavango Resources PLC

15 October 2019

 

PRESS RELEASE

15 October 2019

KAVANGO RESOURCES PLC

("Kavango" or "the Company")

DRILLING STARTED ON THE KSZ IN SW BOTSWANA

Kavango Resources plc (LSE: KAV), the exploration group listed on the Standard List segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange and targeting the discovery of world-class copper-nickel-PGE deposits in Botswana, is pleased to announce the Company has commenced drilling at the first of its three targets on the Kalahari Suture Zone ("KSZ"). The objective of the drilling is to verify the Company's geological model, aimed at discovering a Norilsk-style magmatic sulphide ore body.

As previously announced, the Company selected its current three drill targets following two airborne electro-magnetic ("AEM") surveys on its prospecting licenses and the subsequent ground based geophysical follow up surveys and soil sampling. The soil sampling tested for iron ("Fe"), copper ("Cu") and zinc ("Zn").

The approximately 1,000m drilling programme will seek to intersect sulphide mineralization associated with gabbroic sills that were intruded into the Karoo sediments about 180 million years ago.

The Company believes the presence of copper/nickel sulphide mineralization in association with high-level gabbroic sills will provide significant evidence for the development of magmatic sulphide ore bodies similar to those currently being mined at Norilsk (Russia) and Voisey Bay (Canada).

Kavango has elected to use reverse circulation drilling, which is more cost effective, to penetrate the relatively unconsolidated Kalahari and Karoo cover for up to 200m. Diamond (core) drilling will then continue into Karoo sediments, gabbros and the conductive targets to a target depth of around 400m.

Further details of Kavango's current three drill target programme and the geological models were announced on 2 October 2019 and are provided on the Company's website at https://www.kavangoresources.com/projects/kalahari-suture-zone and on Twitter at @KavangoRes.

Michael Foster, Chief Executive Officer of Kavango Resources, commented:

"We are delighted that the drilling on the first hole of this 3 hole programme is now underway. If the current drilling is able to verify Kavango's geological model by intersecting metal sulphide mineralization in association with gabbroic intrusives on the KSZ, this will represent a major step forward towards the discovery of a world class, Norilsk type, magmatic sulphide deposit in Botswana. We look forward to providing the market with further updates as this drill campaign proceeds."

For further information please contact:

Kavango Resources plc                                                           [phone]

Michael Foster

[e-mail]

SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker)                                                 [phone]

Nick Emerson

Turner Pope Investments (Joint Broker)                                     [phone]

Andy Thacker and Zoe Alexander

Note to Editors:

Kavango's 100% subsidiary in Botswana, Kavango Minerals (Pty) Ltd, is the holder of 15 prospecting licences covering 9,231 km² of ground, including 13 licences over most of the 450km long KSZ magnetic anomaly in the southwest of the country along which Kavango is exploring for Cu-Ni-PGE rich sulphide ore bodies. This large area, which is entirely covered by Cretaceous and post-Cretaceous Kalahari sediments, has not previously been explored using modern techniques.

The area covered by Kavango's KSZ licences displays a geological setting with distinct similarities to that hosting the World Class Norilsk Ni-Cu-PGE ore bodies in Siberia. 

Exploration Model:

Kavango's exploration model is based upon the search for magmatic massive sulphide ore bodies buried beneath up to 200m of overburden. The identification of drill targets follows a carefully constructed exploration program specifically developed by the Company for exploration in areas covered by Kalahari and Karoo sediments and sands.

The exploration program is initiated by identifying the location of magmatic intrusive rocks from an analysis of the regional magnetic surveys published by the Botswana Government. This is followed by an AEM survey carried out over the magnetic anomalies that have signatures indicating the presence of intrusive rocks at depth. By using the latest generation of low frequency helicopter-borne EM, conductors lying below the Kalahari/Karoo cover can be identified for further investigation. These conductors can be tested on surface by very high sensitivity soil sampling***, which can detect metal ions transported from buried, metal rich massive sulphide deposits associated with the emplacement of magmatic intrusive rocks.

Kavango uses a ground based geophysical technique known as Controlled Source Audio frequency Magneto Tellurics (CSAMT)** to identify the exact location of the conductors. The shape, orientation and depth of the conductors will determine if the conductor should be drilled. The presence of a metal in soil anomaly is also used to prioritise the conductors.

The next phase of the exploration involves the drilling of the conductor to determine the presence of sulphide mineralisation and its metal component (discovery). This is followed by the evaluation of the discovery, which will determine whether the deposit is large enough and rich enough to make an economically viable mine (feasibility).

*Gabbro is a dense mafic intrusive rock, usually formed in an oceanic crust environment, when molten mass cools and crystallises at depth, forming a coarse grained, dark coloured rock, similar in its chemical composition to basalt.

**Massive sulphide (base metal) deposits can be detected by CSAMT because they conduct electricity easily (conductors) as opposed to silicate wall rocks (resistive).

***Kavango geologists have pioneered a high resolution soil sampling technique to detect ultra-fine metal particles which have been transported in solution from considerable depths of burial to the surface by capillary action and transpiration. Evaporation leaves the metal ions as accumulations within a surface "duricrust" which is then sampled and analysed. Zinc, which is the most mobile of the base metal elements (i.e. goes into solution easily) acts as a pathfinder to mineralization at depth. 

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