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I think Ruffles has proved before that they have access to someone at the company, so I am inclined to believe their post.

If it is true do not under estimate the significance of it for two reasons.

1. Arc believe that the MMG deposit next door continues over the boundary and across their licence. They also seem to be confident that this year's extended drilling campaign in Botswana supports that theory.

For MMG to request a meeting with Arc's chief geologist, before the assay results are even in, shows that MMG through their own drilling and analysis also believe that the deposit runs across our licence.

2. MMG want to get in early to secure Arc's licence. This early approach shows that they are very keen to do this.

Proving up an asset is one thing, securing a buyer is another. It makes perfect business sense for MMG, with an existing mine and infrastructure next door to acquire Arc's licence. We thought they would want it, now we know they do.

It was fairly obvious from the first drilling RNS that Anglo were going to give us nothing apart from assay results and Arc has been gagged by Anglo.

"A number of holes are planned at Cheyeza following which the Muswema target will be drilled."

No mention of total depth to be drilled, number of holes to be drilled or how many rigs would be used.

With this in mind we have to read between the lines.

As they intended drilling Muswema after Cheyeza, although not stated, the implication was they intended to use the same rig or presumably they would have been drilled both at the same time, if multiple rigs were being deployed.

Now if they have indeed found a peach of a core at Cheyeza (Ruffles80) and are arranging a site visit for experts, surely they would leave that rig at Cheyeza and drill the hell out of it. It just wouldn't make sense to abandon a site where they have had excellent results, millions to spend and three months of drilling left this season.

So a very good indication will be, do they bring in a new rig for Muswema, if they don't and just abandon Cheyeza this season, then I think we can draw our own conclusions.

We do know that they have uncovered drill data from around 50 years ago which are said to be interesting and drill plans are being actively reviewed.

I also understand that Arc's chief geologist is flying out to Zambia today, so hopefully we may see more pictures/updates through the twitter feed

It was rumoured that Duncan Wanblad is going to visit Zambia (Charles Archer)

I see from Anglo's twitter account that DW will be speaking at the Joberg Indaba October 2nd and 3rd.

IF the rumour is indeed true it would seem likely that he would combine both and we may see a visit at the end of this month.

All we need is one bid and everything changes.

That bid could be for the Botswana licence, the 20% of the Zambian JV with Anglo, or more likely a hostile bid for the whole company.

I think a bid for the whole company is more likely because with a market cap of circa £26m it is already far too low given Arc's assets.

Even our critics accept that Anglo will find copper in Zambia, the question is how much.

With every positive drilling result the value of the company increases, the share price has to re rate or the likelihood of a hostile bid increases.

When the JV was agreed there were other unsuccessful suitors, with Arc's current low value it has to be tempting for someone to secure 20% of all the future copper Anglo discover on this multi target large acreage, for not much money.

If the Arc management are not worried about a hostile takeover, they should be.

A couple of years ago a low offer to takeover the company would have almost certainly failed, now I'm not so sure.

200m shares were issued at 1.8p and each had a warrant exercisable at 3p. Many of the shares have since been sold but they were all bought at around the same 1.8p price.

Those share holders and the warrant holders might bite their hand off for an instant profit, if the offer was north of 4p.

At that price it is over 100% over the current share price.

All share holders buy shares with a personal timeline in mind. It might be a day, week, month, a year or multi years. I suspect most of the LTH's here have gone well over their own original timeline and many would like to get out. Personally my timeline was two years and I've been here for over four years now. All I'm saying is many more would accept a lower bid now than would have done a couple of years ago.

Regardless of whether a low offer was accepted or not, one bid would open this up. One bid and anyone watching this would have to come out of the shadows with a counter bid if they wanted it. That would start a bidding war which is a great potential scenario.

Whilst the current share price is very depressing, with one significant find it all changes, the share price re rates to a fair value or the vultures start circling.

AIMO

Https://www.miningmx.com/top-story/58177-all-systems-go-for-arcs-zambia-copper-jv-with-anglo/

Thanks for that, if they have found something interesting the arrival of a second rig may be our first indication of positive news.

From the latest tweet

"Anglo calling in hotshots from around (world emoji) to see first batch"

I haven't heard anything about this, anyone know where it comes from?

Https://miningaim.co.uk/charles-archer-blog/f/whats-anglos-angle-in-zambia

The last line

"And guess who's very strongly rumoured to be making a visit to Zambia in the coming days?"

Duncan Wanblad the Anglo American CEO. If he is coming wouldn't it be nice to show him a positive drilling result!

At the first sign of copper at either location surely the share price has to re rate. A market cap of circa £25m is just ludicrously low given the two assets that Arc has.

Just my opinion but I think Cheyeza will ultimately be shown to be a Tier 1 deposit. Out of all the licence areas it was here that Anglo chose to drill the deep stratographical hole last year and they have now started drilling fairly close to that location.

I also think that after finding the visible mineralisation in Botswana, the Arc board believe that goes a long way to proving that the deposit next door continues through our licence area.

Given that Raffles leaked the information about 24 hours before the RNS, his/her wording very was interesting "A significant key discovery" I think it is regarded as key because they believe it confirms the theory.

AIMO

Thanks SeisNav much appreciated

The pictures Arc tweeted on Aug 1st of the trucks on the road was taken at Cheyeza. They are using the same rig they left on site over the rainy season MDI1166. Clearly they have moved the rig, do you know where we are drilling now on the Cheyeza area?

Apologies if this has already been covered.

Update re my post this morning, the results of the latest Mining Licensing Committee meeting have just landed on the website.

As far as I can see no mention of any of our licences

https://www.mmmd.gov.zm/?p=2923

With drilling underway at both locations, the next piece of ther jigsaw will probably be the granting of Large Scale Mining Licences.

Institutional Investors are notoriously cautious and we are all waiting for the catalyst that will see them start to buy here.

Finding a large copper deposit would obviously trigger a re rate of the share price but I think the granting of LML's might also spark interest.

With an LML in place a road map is laid out for the next 25 years.

The latest meeting of the Mining Licensing Committee is already overdue, the last one ended on the 10th June.

The results of the latest meeting will be released any day, which should give us an update on the licence situation.

I'm not saying they will get any granted at this meeting but there is a chance.

Arc currently has a market cap of around £20 million

Under Phase 1 of the JV Arc, Arc without doing anything, will get £5.75m in cash over the next three years.

$1,000,000 payable annually to Unico Minerals Ltd (ARC 67% ownership) for the first three years

With $8,000,000 being the final payment on completion of Phase 1 of the JV 180 days later.

$11,000,000 in total - Arc's share at 67% is $7.37m or £5.75m

The current market cap is just too low given the assets Arc has

AIMO

I am satisfied that this was indeed an admin error, I don't believe that a company the size of Anglo doesn't know what is required in an LML application.

Previously, as a LTH I was very annoyed when cash was raised at 1.8p, this was made worse by the fact that retail investors couldn't take part in the placing.

Circumstances have now provided a chance for retail investors to buy below the placing price of 1.8p.

I accept we don't get a free warrant for every share bought but it gives a low access point and averages down for most investors.

If you accept the companies explanation for this development, then this is surely a buying opportunity.

The LML's are not needed in the short term but it will be good to get them, we will shortly be drilling in three prospective locations, Cheyeza, Muswema and Botswana and our market cap is only circa £22m.

AIMO

The link is in my original post.

The LEL's are the Large Scale Exploration Licences. The LML's are the Large Scale Mining Licence applications that are in the process of being considered.

It won't affect the drilling but it would have been good to get them approved.

They are complex applications so it could be for a number of reasons. Hopefully it is just another slight delay in the process. The JV doesn't need the Mining Licence yet but they will need it before any mine is built.

AIMO

Finally the results of the latest MLC meeting have been released.

Don't shoot the messenger but apparently two of the licence applications have been rejected

33403-HQ-LML Rejected -19/07/2024 appeal window

33404-HQ-LML Rejected- 19/07/2024 appeal window

https://www.mmmd.gov.zm/?p=2849

I have written to the company but I haven't had a reply as yet. I would expect the decision to be appealed.

23004-HQ-LEL has been deferred

Will Anglo announce drilling when they start at one site, or will they wait until both Cheyeza and Muswema are drilling.

My guess is they will wait until both sites are up and running

The short answer is no. I have contacted the company regarding drilling in Zambia and as soon as Anglo notify them that drilling has commenced, we will be told.

I was expecting The Mining Licensing Committee to meet last week but their website still has not been updated.

Today is 8 weeks to the day since the last meeting ended on the 12th April 2024. There doesn't appear to be a rigid timetable for their meetings but this has been a much longer gap between meetings.