Kavango Resources plc (LSE:KAV), the Southern Africa focussed metals exploration company, is pleased to announce the commencement of an airborne geophysical survey on its Kalahari Copper Belt (“KCB”) project in Botswana.
The Company has signed a contract with South Africa-based New Resolution Geophysics (“NRG”) for Time Domain Electromagnetic (“TDEM”), Magnetic, and Gravity surveys combined on one helicopter platform (“the NRG Survey”).
The NRG Survey will consist of 2,374-line kms at a line spacing of 500m x 5,000m across Kavango’s Block 1A and Block 1B Prospecting Licences (“PLs”)
The work expands on airborne geophysical surveying already completed by ENRG Elements (ASX:ENRG) (“ENRG”) on PL203/2016 and PL127/2017, two adjacent PLs recently acquired by Kavango (announced >>> 16 November 2023).
Figure 1: NRG’s planned survey lines across Kavango’s Block 1A and Block 1B licences and airborne survey data covering the PLs acquired from ENRG
Ben Turney, Chief Executive Officer of Kavango Resources, commented:
“Kavango is targeting the discovery of large-scale copper/silver targets in the Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB) in Botswana.
We recently acquired additional exploration licences from ENRG Elements to complete a large contiguous land package from the town of Ghanzi to the Namibian border. Our interpretation of ENRG’s existing survey data for Prospecting Licences 203/2016 and 127/2017 supports our working theory that this area is prospective for copper/silver. We believe this potential could extend to Kavango’s other licence holdings, which have designated as Blocks 1A and 1B.
As part of our “levelling up” strategy in the KCB, we are compiling a consistent data set for all the ground we control. NRG’s airborne geophysical survey will provide us with some of the final exploration data we need ahead of defining drill targets for next year’s drill campaign.
Our recent work has confirmed physical indicators of a copper mineralising system within our ground, combined with encouraging geophysical anomalies.
Our goal in reprocessing ENRG’s existing data and combining it with the data from the airborne surveys we will fly over Blocks 1A and 1B will be to increase our understanding of the region’s mineralised potential. We will also investigate the interpreted sub-basin that could be a significant control for copper/silver deposits.“
Further details
The NRG Survey will be conducted over five PLs that make up Kavango’s Block 1A (PL046/2020, PL049/2020, PL052/2020, PL053/2020) and Block 1B (PL205/2016) licence areas. The licences are located southwest of the town of Ghanzi and adjacent to PL203/2016 and PL127/2017, two of the KCB PLs Kavango recently acquired from ENRG.
NRG is expected to commence its airborne geophysics survey on 4 December 2023. The survey is expected to take two weeks to complete, with the final data processing and delivery of products anticipated for Q1 2024.
Program objectives
Kavango is currently re-processing data from airborne geophysical surveys already completed by ENRG on PL203/2016 and PL127/2017.
The Company will combine this re-processed data with data from the new NRG surveys to test its working theory that the copper/silver prospective geological and geophysical features, which it interpreted from ENRG’s existing airborne geophysics survey data, extend onto Kavango’s Block 1A and Block 1B licences. Kavango’s geologists and geophysicists believe this could be indicative of a regional copper mineralizing system.
Kavango’s geologists wish to examine whether the stratigraphy and lithology they have begun to map on the former ENRG PLs extend on to these Blocks. They believe that ENRG’s existing data conforms to sequences in the lower D’Kar Formation seen across other parts of the KCB.
The models in Figures 2 and 3 below depict the type of fold geometry and structural trap-sites Kavango believes to underlie areas of Block 1A and 1B.
Figure 2 is a modified version of the fold geometry, showing a “preserved” as opposed to “un-roofed” dome, as well as associated mineralisation present in the fold closure at Khoemacau’s North East Fold (“NEF”) deposit on the nearby Banana Zone. Figure 3 is a schematic cross-section showing both the shear-hosted mineralisation and dilational vein-hosted mineralisation present in Sandfire Resources’ (ASX:SFR) A4 deposit.
Kavango believes there may be scope for either or both models to be present and is optimistic the NRG survey will identify these for further ground geophysics and future drill targeting.
Figure 2 – Regional to deposit scale geologic controls on copper silver mineralisation in the KCB – Wes Hall et al, SEG, Special Publication, no 21, pp207-236
Figure 3 – Schematic cross-section showing high-grade intersection in drill hole MO-A4-003D, interpreted geology, and the mineralisation styles across Sandfire’s A4 deposit
The magnetic component of the NRG Survey will map the structure and lithology of Block 1A and Block 1B. It is anticipated that the EM component of the NRG Survey will highlight prospective subtle conductors within the D’Kar Formation and help identify structural trap sites linked to folds, faults, and shears within Block 1A and Block 1B.
The gravity component of the NRG Survey will seek to identify whether the sub-basin identified in ENRG’s data extends into Kavango’s Block 1A. Kavango believes the margins of this sub-basin could provide priority targets for trap site development and deposit formation.
Kavango will interpret these airborne geophysical data with the goal of identifying target areas for ground geophysical follow-up, which will then lead to drill target identification.
Further information in respect of Kavango and its business interests is provided on the Company’s website at www.kavangoresources.com and on Twitter at #KAV.
For further information please contact:
Kavango Resources plc
Ben Turney
+46 7697 406 06
First Equity (Broker)
Jason Robertson
+44 207 374 2212
Kavango Competent Person Statement
The technical information contained in this announcement pertaining to geophysics have been read and approved by Mr. Jeremy S. Brett, M.Sc., P.Geo., Senior Geophysical Consultant, Jeremy S. Brett International Consulting Ltd. in Toronto, Canada. Mr. Brett is a member of the Professional Geoscientists of Ontario, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, the Canadian Exploration Geophysical Society, and the Society of Economic Geologists. Mr. Brett has sufficient experience that is relevant to geophysics applied the styles of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration to act as a Qualified Person as defined under the Canadian National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.