RE: An amazing RNS15 Sep 2022 10:15
Mukai Copper Project, 27066-HQ-LEL
Exploration Licence 27066-HQ-LEL covers 55.4 sq. km. and is located 125km west of Solwezi in the north-western Province of Zambia. Geologically it is in the Domes Region of the Central African Copperbelt and it encompasses Lower Roan Subgroup rocks which are part of the southern flank of the highly prospective Kabompo Dome.
The licence is directly adjacent to FQM’s Trident Project licences which include the recently opened Enterprise nickel mine and the large producing Sentinel (Kalumbila) copper mine, located 8km south and 18km southeast of the licence, respectively.
FQM has invested US$2.1 billion in the Sentinel copper mine where the plant has the capacity to treat 55 million tonnes of ore per annum.
Enterprise is a sediment-hosted nickel-sulphide deposit with a total measured and indicated resource of 40 million tonnes of ore containing 431,000 tonnes of nickel from which FQM envisages processing some 4 million tonnes per year of nickel ore making Enterprise the largest nickel mine in Africa.
The project is also located west of Arc Minerals project area on the opposite flank of the Kabompo Dome where Anglo American plc can earn a 70% interest from Arc Minerals plc through expenditure of US$88.5 million including US$14.5 in cash payments.
Mushima North Copper Project, 27068-HQ-LEL
Exploration Licence 27068-HQ-LEL covers 701.3 sq. km. and is located 100km east of Manyinga.
AIM: TYM
The licence encompasses basement rocks outside of the traditional Copper Belt and the region is a focus of exploration for copper-gold in so called Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold (“IOCG”) deposits best exemplified by the giant Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium deposit in South Australia. The past producing Kalengwa copper mine is situated approximately 20km west of the licence and is believed to be one of the highest-grade copper deposits ever to be mined in Zambia. In the 1970s high grade ore in excess of 26% copper, making up approximately 20% of the orebody, was trucked for direct smelting at Copper Belt mines.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd (“FQM”)
FQM is a global copper company operating long life mines in several countries. It employs approximately 20,000 people world-wide.
FQM is ranked the sixth largest copper producer in the world and is forecasting global copper metal production of at least 790,000t in 2022.
Just under half of FQM’s copper production is expected to come from its Kansanshi and Sentinel mines in Zambia which together represent approximately 50% of total Zambian