Kazera upbeat on progress in Namibia

(Sharecast News) - Investment company Kazera Global announced on Tuesday that the borehole drilling campaign at both the Homestead and Purple Haze deposits had been completed.The AIM-traded firm, through its stake in African Tantalum, has an interest in the Namibia Tantalite Investment mine in Namibia.At the same time, it said it had been approached by two parties interested in becoming the strategic funding partner for the Orange River Project, and for further development of the mine. It said that, having drilled 34 boreholes, assayed 551 core samples and recovered 20 channel samples, Namibia Tantalite Investment (NTI) - under the guidance of the MSA Group - had now completed the planned borehole drilling campaign over the Homestead and Purple Haze deposits.Management regarded the initials results as encouraging, the board said, and comparable with the historical results upon which the 2015 Venmyn Report was based, which was not compiled in accordance with JORC guidelines.The drilling campaign was said to be continuing at Signaalberg, and the previously-mined White City pegmatites, with the aim of identifying additional mineralisation.Kazera said it anticipated that further mineralisation potential would be identified.To validate and confirm the original assay results, as required for JORC verification, the samples were now being analysed by a second, specialist laboratory, as required by the competent person.The company said it now expected that the a JORC-compliant resource on Homestead and Purple Haze at the NTI mine would be completed by the second quarter of 2019, to be followed by initial laboratory results from the Signaalberg and White City borehole drilling campaign.In addition to the ongoing drilling campaign and, following receipt of a clearance certificate for water abstraction from the Orange River to the Mine from the Namibian government in March 2018, Kazera said the company had completed the tender process for construction of the pipeline, and had received satisfactory proposals from experienced contractors.The firm was also said to be in detailed negotiations with two international groups who had approached the company, with indicative offers for the funding of construction of the Orange River Pipeline to the mine as well as offtake proposals.Kazera's board cautioned that there could be no certainty that any deal would be made, nut said it was looking into the opportunities as a matter of due process.The two groups were "fully aware" of the borehole drilling campaign, it added."As we await the imminent results from the second laboratory's tests to achieve a JORC-compliant resource at Homestead and Purple Haze, we are highly encouraged by the initial results of the drilling campaign which suggests strong Tantalum potential in the Homestead and Purple Haze deposits," said Kazera chief executive officer Larry Johnson."With further drilling ongoing at Signaalberg and White City deposits we are excited by what the next phase will deliver."Johnson said he was also "extremely encouraged" by the discussions the firm was holding regarding funding of the company's operations by two international groups."Their interest in the Mine speaks to the value we are realizing, and we look forward to updating shareholders as further results are achieved."