(Alliance News) - Getech Group PLC on Tuesday said it has struck a deal with East Star Resources PLC to locate porphyry copper deposits in Kazakhstan.
The Leeds, England-based geo-energy and green hydrogen location company said the project is backed by the BHP Xplor 2024 accelerator programme and is the first time Getech's Globe geoscience platform will be used to locate porphyry copper.
The contract builds on its joint venture agreement with East Star, announced last month, to explore for sedimentary copper deposits in Kazakhstan.
Getech said it will receive a fee for exploration services.
Getech Chief Executive Officer Richard Bennett said: "It is particularly pleasing to be selected for repeat projects with both the BHP Xplor accelerator programme, and East Star. Importantly, I believe awareness, of our ability to make mineral exploration less risky and more cost-effective, is growing amongst explorers like East Star who are looking for assets to support the energy transition. This is a key part of our strategy and while this is our first contract to locate porphyry copper, given its value as a resource, we are hopefully that it will be the first of many."
Seperately, East Star announced on Tuesday that a maiden JORC inferred mineral resource for the Verkhuba copper deposit in Kazakhstan estimates 236,000 tonnes of copper at 1.16 % and 313,000t at 1.54% of zinc.
CEO Alex Walker said: "This is a significant milestone. In a little over a year and one exploration season, we have transformed a historical copper deposit into a large JORC inferred mineral resource in an infrastructure-rich region. Our company is now underpinned not only by its highly prospective exploration licences but by a significant critical metal asset in the ground."
East Star is a Kazakhstan-focused copper exploration and resource development company.
Shares in Getech were up 7.6% at 8.87 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon, while East Star shares were up 11% at 3.90p each.
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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