Cobre Ltd (ASX:CBE) has received a major validation for its Kitlanya West and East Copper Projects in the Kalahari Copper Belt of Botswana, having executed a letter of intent (LoI) with a wholly-owned subsidiary of BHP (ASX:BHP) for a joint venture (JV) agreement.
The JV follows Cobre's successful participation in the BHP Xplor program, which also provided funding for a recently completed seismic survey on the Kitlanya West project.
The agreement offers an external confirmation of CBE’s projects, and their potential to host Tier 1 copper and silver deposits.
A partnership with BHP would offer the exploration scale and expertise to maximise the potential for an economical discovery, while retaining 100% ownership of the Ngami and Okavango Copper Projects.
Major milestone for CBE
“Successful negotiation and completion of this significant transaction with BHP, one of the world’s leading mining companies, will be a major moment in time for Cobre as a company,” Cobre CEO Adam Wooldridge said.
“Participating in the BHP 2024 Xplor cohort has provided the opportunity to do a belt-scale review of the Kalahari Copper Belt, culminating with the collection of seismic data over the prospective northern margin of the belt.
“The proposed transaction with BHP would allow us to fully fund our follow-on exploration programs and focus on discovering the Tier 1 deposits we believe may be hosted in our Kitlanya West and East Projects.
“Independently, Cobre will continue advancing its 100% owned in-situ copper recovery development at Ngami – with a scoping study due in early October – along with further drilling at Cobre’s 100%-owned Okavango project.
“This combined strategy provides exposure to potential Tier 1 discoveries, a development opportunity at Ngami and short-term discoveries on our Okavango project.”
The JV is subject to approval and execution of formal binding documents, and the completion of BHP’s due diligence investigations.
Cobre will release the final details once the agreement has been formalised.