BeMetals Corp. is pleased to announce results of drill hole D22-C1 at the D-Prospect of the Pangeni Copper Project. The Company also reports completion of the 2023 phases of drilling at the Kato and Todoroki projects in Japan. In addition, BeMetals has closed a C$2 million convertible debenture private placement funding with strategic investor B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO, NYSE American: BTG, NSX: B2G) (“B2Gold”), as part of a funding package previously announced on August 1, 2023.
Highlights:
- Pangeni Copper Project: D-Prospect: Drill hole D22-C1 intersected 18.10 metres grading 0.70% Copper
- The copper intersection has a grade that exceeds the grades of certain operating, large-scale, copper mines in the Domes Region of the Zambian Copperbelt (1) (2) and has a width similar to mineralized units in these deposits (3)
- This copper intersection is open along strike to the southwest and west, and both up and down dip beneath the Kalahari sand cover
- Kazan Gold Project: The 2023 phase of drilling has been completed at the Kato Project and the Company also completed its two planned drill holes at the Todoroki Project
Note: Table 1 below provides details of this and other intersections in drill hole D22-C1. Notes (1) (2) (3) referenced and detailed in Pangeni Copper Project section below.
John Wilton, President and CEO of BeMetals, stated “We are very pleased and excited by the results from drill hole D22-C1 at the Pangeni Copper Project in Zambia. These new results, including 18.10 metres grading 0.70% copper confirm the pedigree of the geological setting, and highlight similarities to known mined deposits in the Domes Region of the Zambian Copperbelt. These factors illustrate the potential for the D-Prospect to deliver, with additional successful exploration drilling, a significant zone of copper mineralization. Importantly, this copper interval is open along strike to the southwest and west, and both up and down dip beneath the Kalahari sand cover.
This D22-C1 intersection reinforces the targeted tier one discovery potential of the Pangeni Copper Project. Further observation and interpretation to be completed in the coming months, along with pending drill hole results, will guide the design of follow-up exploration at the D-Prospect.
We are also pleased to announce the completion of the C$ 2 million convertible debenture with our strategic investor B2Gold, which will allow the Company to continue advancing our high quality portfolio of copper and gold exploration projects.”
PANGENI COPPER PROJECT: D-PROSPECT
The 2023 drilling campaign at the D-Prospect comprised 2,032 metres of shallow air core drilling to test for bedrock copper anomalies below the Kalahari sand cover, and 787 metres of follow-up core drilling in three holes (D22-C1, D14-C1, D11-C1; see Figure 1). Results from D-14-C1 and D11-C1 are pending from the D-Prospect and will be announced when available.
The D22-C1 interval of 18.10 metres grading 0.70% copper delivers significant mineralization:
- The grade of 0.70% copper exceeds that of certain deposits in the Domes Region. (Examples: First Quantum Minerals’ Sentinel Mine Reserves: 792.4 million tonnes grading 0.46% Cu (1) and Barrick Gold’s Lumwana Mine Reserves: 538.8 million tonnes grading 0.56% Cu (2)).
- The width of 18.10 metres is comparable to the thicknesses of the mineralized units in several deposits with a similar interpreted style of copper mineralization in the Domes Region. At the Lumwana Mine, the average mineralized thickness of the ore schist unit at the Malundwe deposit is 15 metres (3), and the average thicknesses of the upper, central, and lower ore schist units at the Chimiwungo deposit are 10, 60 and 12 metres, respectively (3).
Notably, the D22-C1 drill intersection is open along the interpreted strike of the geological units to the southwest and west as well as both up and down dip beneath the Kalahari sand cover. Some 400 metres along strike to the northeast of the D22-C1 intersection, previously reported drill hole D2-C1 returned a zone of 14.05 metres at 0.37% copper. Further interpretation, and potential future drilling, will determine if these two intersections can be linked.
Importantly, drill core observation of the main D22-C1 intercept reveals an interpreted zonation of the copper sulphide minerals from a narrow but meaningful interval of high-tenor chalcocite through chalcopyrite plus bornite and chalcopyrite only to chalcopyrite plus pyrite. This mineral zonation can be taken as evidence for a robust mineralizing system and, in combination with existing and future drill intersections, could provide vectors towards feeders for the D-Prospect mineralization.