KCB - drilling update

RNS Number : 4986D

Kavango Resources PLC

20 October 2022

 

PRESS RELEASE

20 October 2022

KAVANGO RESOURCES PLC

("Kavango" or "the Company")

KCB - drilling update

Botswana focussed metals exploration company Kavango Resources plc (LSE:KAV) ("Kavango") is pleased to announce an operational update from the Company's  Kalahari Copper Belt ("KCB") project area.

Following interpretation of results from the ongoing Controlled Source Audio Magnetotelluric ("CSAMT") surveys (announced >>> 12 October 2022), Kavango's exploration team has decided to complete the holes in the current drill campaign at PL082/2018 using diamond drilling. Each hole will now first be drilled with a reverse circulation 'pre collar' and then completed with a diamond 'tail'.

The multipurpose rig can be used for both reverse circulation and diamond drilling equipment. The latter is now being mobilised to site.

Diamond drilling will enable Kavango to test properly the interpretation of the CSAMT data to target depth and retrieve drill core samples to evaluate the target lithology, structure, alteration, geochemistry and mineralization.

Hole KCBRC001 has been pre-collared to 153m using reverse circulation drilling and the multipurpose rig has been moved to the site of Hole KCBRC002.

KCBRC002 will test the Northern Zone target, which is an 8km long soil sampling copper anomaly that coincides with the edge of a magnetic high, which Kavango believes could represent a fault.

Kavango has interpreted the CSAMT inversion over KCBRC001 & KCBRC002 to indicate the presence of the crucial D'Kar/Ngwako Pan formational contact within 150m-300m of surface. This formational contact is the primary control for economic copper-silver deposits across the Kalahari Copper Belt. Kavango is keen to test its interpretation of the CSAMT results with diamond drilling to (i) prove that the inverted CSAMT data is effective in identifying the D'kar/Ngwako Pan contact, (ii) to verify interpreted fault structures, and (iii) determine if these targets are mineralized.

Jeremy S. Brett, Senior Geophysical Consultant to Kavango Resources, commented:

"The CSAMT survey is providing a potential breakthrough in the Kalahari Copper Belt for Kavango. We are fortunate to be able to test this immediately with drilling. 

The CSAMT data over 3 test lines has been inverted and interpreted to show the contact between the D'Kar and Ngwako Pan formations, which is the main target horizon in the KCB. 

A very high degree of resolution has been achieved with the inversions on the known folding in the belt, and has verified Kavango's hypotheses on variable wavelengths of the folds and brittle fault accomodations within the fold patterns to accomdate strain.  The faults are postulated to have acted as conduits for mineralizing fluids, that could host deposits where they intersect the D'Kar / Ngwako Pan contact.

The results from the CSAMT inversions are providing us with estimated depths for the D'Kar / Ngwako Pan contact in the range of 150m to 300m from surface.  This has led to the decision to switch to diamond drilling, in order to reach target depths with confidence and return drillcore for analyses." 

Next Steps:

The northernmost CSAMT Line 4A is currently completed on Kavango's ground and the geophysical team is ready to deploy across the part of Sandfire's ground that hosts the Kronos deposit.  This calibration point for the CSAMT survey is expected to confirm the signature for the D'Kar / Ngwako Pan contact .

Kavango had mobilised a multipurpose rig to give maximum operational flexibility as the drill campaign progressed. The ability to switch between reverse circulation and diamond core drilling is a strength of this programme and the Company is now able to take full advantage of this. The results of the CSAMT survey necessitate the switch to diamond drill core in order to test the interpreted contact between the D'Kar and Ngwako Pan rocks, which is the critical target horizon in the KCB.

Kavango has now decided to pre-collar its current planned holes on PL082/2018 with cost-effective reverse circulation drilling and then to return to each of them to complete with the diamond tails. The Company's expectation is that the core samples will provide valuable geological data that confirms the presence of the crucial D'kar/Ngwako Pan formational contact in Kavango's licence area and, hopefully, copper-silver mineralisation.

Further information in respect of the Company and its business interests is provided on the Company's website at  www.kavangoresources.com  and on Twitter at #KAV.

For further information please contact:

Kavango Resources plc   

Ben Turney

[e-mail]

[phone]

First Equity (Joint Broker)

[phone]

Jason Robertson   

SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker) 

[phone]

Nick Emerson

Kavango Competent Person Statement

The technical information contained in this announcement pertaining to geology and exploration have been read and approved by Brett Grist BSc(Hons) FAusIMM (CP).  Mr Grist is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy with Chartered Professional status.  Mr Grist has sufficient experience that is relevant to the exploration programmes and geology of the main styles of mineralisation and deposit types under consideration to act as a Qualified Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'.

The technical information contained in this announcement pertaining to geophysics have been read and approved by Mr. Jeremy S. Brett, M.Sc., P.Geo., Senior Geophysical Consultant, Jeremy S. Brett International Consulting Ltd. in Toronto, Canada.  Mr. Brett is a member of the Professional Geoscientists of Ontario, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, the Canadian Exploration Geophysical Society, and the Society of Economic Geologists.  Mr. Brett has sufficient experience that is relevant to geophysics applied to the styles of mineralization and types of deposits under consideration to act as a Qualified Person as defined under the Canadian National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

NOTES TO EDITORS

KAVANGO'S INTERESTS IN THE KALAHARI COPPER BELT

Kavango's exploration licences in the KCB include:

Kanye Resources

Agreement to acquire 100% working interest (Kavango currently owns 50% working interest) in 10 prospecting licences held in a Joint Venture vehicle (Kanye Resources) with Power Metal Resources (LSE:POW), which cover 4,256km². Terms of the acquisition, which is subject to the issue of a prospectus by Kavango, are provided in the announcement dated 8 July 2022.

The LVR Project

Earning in a 90% interest in prospecting licences PL082/2018 & PL 083/2018, held in a Joint Venture with LVR GeoExplorers (Pty) Ltd ("LVR"), which cover 809km².

THE KCB PROJECT GEOLOGICAL SETTING

Kavango's KCB Project areas include lengthy redox boundaries, close to surface, that represent excellent exploration targets.

The redox boundaries were formed several hundred million years ago in active sedimentary basins flooded by shallow seas. Organic matter accumulating on the sea floor created anoxic conditions, which formed a chemical barrier to metal ions rising upwards through the sediments as the basin subsided. The change in chemistry caused the precipitation of metal species (carbonates, sulphides etc.) including copper and silver on or just below the redox boundary.

Subsequent tectonic activity folded the sedimentary layers, which was often accompanied by the concentration of metals into the fold hinges and shear zones. Fold hinges pointing upwards are known as anticlines, while the downward pointing hinges are called synclines.

Several large copper/silver ore deposits have been discovered on the KCB in association with anticlines in areas now held under licence by Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) and Cupric Canyon (a privately owned mining development company). These deposits are relatively close to surface and many are amenable to open pit mining operations.

Accumulations of metals can be traced along the strike of redox boundaries (sometimes for many kilometres) because they often contain iron and have a higher magnetic signature than the surrounding rock. These have recently been successfully mapped by Kavango's exploration teams.

GLOSSARY

AEM:  Airborne Electromagnetic Survey. This uses an energised loop to induce currents in underlying lithological units, which resultant magnetic field can then be measured.

CSAMT:  Abbreviated from Controlled Source Audio frequency Magneto Telluric. An AMT survey is an electromagnetic survey technique that uses naturally occurring passive energy sources, and which can electromagnetically map geological structures to depths of 500 metres or more.

Inversion:  Geophysical inversion refers to mathematical and statistical techniques for recovering information on subsurface physical properties, from measured geophysical data

KCB:  Kalahari Copper Belt. An area of southern Africa, running ENE-WSW from Botswana into Namibia, within which multiple economic copper-silver sedimentary rock hosted deposits have been discovered.

RC:  Reverse Circulation drilling. This is a cost-effective method of drilling that uses compressed air to drive a downhole hammer, which breaks rock into chips that are forced up an internal tube in the drill rod, minimising risk of contamination by wall-rock.

Redox boundary:  Reduction and oxidation boundary, at which the chemical oxidative state of chemical species changes, typically resulting in precipitation of metal salts.

 

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