top of page
Writer's pictureHelen Barling

Noronex stretches out Namibian copper project

Updated: Apr 16


Drilling at Noronex’s Fiesta prospect in Namibia. Credit: File

Noronex has stretched the known mineralisation envelope at its Fiesta prospect out by 750m to more than 3.5km of strike following a maiden drilling program at the site that sits within Namibia’s prospective Kalahari copper belt (KCB).


Headline hits from the company’s latest round of results include 5m at 0.44 per cent copper and 12 grams per tonne silver from 233m and a further 13m averaging 0.3 per cent copper and 8g/t silver from 253m. Drilling was designed to extend mineralisation 750m along strike from a previous significant intercept that pulled up 13m running at 1.4 per cent copper and a further 31m at 0.9 per cent copper and 33g/t silver.


Noronex’s maiden drilling program is targeting copper-laden sediments at the Ngwako-Pan-D’Kar Formation contact, with earlier hits delivering a 45m intercept of 0.8 per cent copper and 23g/t silver from 144m that included 13m going 1.5 per cent copper and 45g/t silver from 150m.


The company has pulled the rods at Fiesta, successfully plunging 11 holes for more than 3000m through the sands of the Kalahari desert to perforate the prospective sedimentary horizon. Assays for the remaining six holes are expected in the coming weeks.


The United States Geological Society regards the KCB as one of “the world’s most prospective areas for yet-to-be-discovered sediment-hosted copper deposits”.


The relatively underexplored belt spans about 1000km from central Namibia to the north-west of neighbouring Botswana through the Kalahari Desert and is notched with a high calibre of copper explorers and producers. They include Rio Tinto and Sandfire Resources, the latter paying $167 million four years ago to acquire a 53-million-tonne Motheo copper deposit going 0.9 per cent.


With drilling wrapped up at Fiesta, Noronex has moved the rig to its Blowhole prospect near the border with Botswana where it is looking to complete the first-ever drilling program into the area. The company has identified a series of structural targets along strike from ASX-listed Cobre Limited’s recent Ngami and Tlou intercepts that included 12m running at 2.5 per cent copper and 24g/t silver.


Management says aeromagnetic surveys demonstrate the continuation of this prospective horizon into Namibia where drilling will target the continuation of the mineralised D’Kar contact on a sheared fold closure.

Copper intercepts at significant step outs along extensions of the main Fiesta horizon is very encouraging for the potential size of the Fiesta copper system and greatly expands the target areas. We are now excited to be moving to the Botswana border targeting favourable structural settings for large deposits that have never been previously drilled. Noronex chief geologist Bruce Hooper

The company believes the area where Namibia meets Botswana is highly prospective – and with good reason. Further along the Kalahari copper belt sits the Zone 5 mine and copper deposit in Botswana that boasts 168 million tonnes at 2.1 per cent copper. Zone 5 is ultimately owned by Cupric Canyon Capital, which has a plan for a 22-year-long mine ramping up to 60,000 tonnes per annum copper.


Copper prices are currently trading at a four-month low on the back of weakened Chinese demand and bearish market sentiment. However, the metal’s looming shortfall is hard to ignore with Goldman Sachs predicting global demand for it will begin to outstrip supplies by 2025, pushing prices well above their current level.


Noronex, with a stronghold position in the emerging KCB, looks to be timing its exploration efforts in just the right fashion to be able to meet that expected growth in demand.


Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: office@bullsnbears.com.au

3 views

Comments


bottom of page