Cobre Ltd (ASX:CBE) has received the first round of laboratory assay results from hydrogeological test wells at the Comet and Interstellar prospects on the Ngami Copper Project (NCP) in the Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB) of Botswana.
The results from Comet, which registered up to 1.6% copper, revealed consistently higher-grade mineralisation than previously identified via portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) testing.
Cobre has also begun advanced metallurgical column leach test work on copper samples from the Comet and Interstellar targets, designed to estimate in-situ copper and silver recoveries which will offer more insight into the in-situ copper-silver extraction process.
Advancing toward in-situ copper recovery
“The recent assay results provide further encouragement that consistent higher grades of copper-silver mineralisation extend at depth at the Comet target,” Cobre CEO Adam Wooldridge said.
“The next stage of metallurgical test work combined with our hydrogeological injection tests will provide a foundation for progressing an in-situ copper recovery process at Ngami.
“We look forward to reporting test results as these become available over the next 4 months.”
Results of note from Cobre’s hydrogeological test wells include:
Production well PW01 - 78 metres at 0.75% copper and 10 g/t silver from 186 metres (downdip) including:
- 5 metres at 1.2% copper and 11 g/t silver from 196 metres;
- 11 metres at 1.1% copper and 15 g/t silver from 213 metres; and
- 8 metres at 1.1% copper and 14 g/t silver from 228 metres.
Monitoring well MW012 - 40 metres at 0.63% copper and 10 g/t silver from 171 metres (downdip) including:
- 6 metres at 1.6% copper and 21 g/t silver from 178 metres; and
- 3 metres at 1.1% copper and 16 g/t silver from 187 metres.
Monitoring well MW001 - 25 metres at 0.63% copper and 10 g/t silver from 97 metres (downdip) including:
- 1 metre at 1.4% copper and 14 g/t silver from 97 metres;
- 1 metre at 1.3% copper and 18 g/t silver from 106 metres; and
- 1 metre at 1.1% copper and 16 g/t silver from 111 metres.
Cobre says both PW01 and MW012 remain open at depth, which the company believes is an encouraging sign that copper-silver mineralisation may continue at depth.
CBE plans to develop Ngami as an in-situ copper recovery operation similar to Taseko Mines (NYSE:TGB) Ltd’s Florence Copper Deposit in Arizona, which shares a similar scale with the NCP and boasts a resource of 320 million tonnes at 0.36% copper.