REG - African Pioneer PLC - Central Africa Copperbelt Update

African PioneerAnnouncement

16/04/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240416:nRSP6858Ka&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 6858K  African Pioneer PLC  16 April 2024

 

16 April 2024

African Pioneer Plc

("African Pioneer" or "the Company")

Central Africa Copperbelt: Update on Western Foreland

exploration on the NW Zambia Joint Venture

 

African Pioneer plc ("AFP" or the "Company") the exploration and resource
development company with advanced projects in Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia,
is pleased to provide an update on the exploration conducted and funded by
First Quantum Minerals Limited ("FQM") during the six-month period to 31
December 2023. The exploration was over the licences located in NW Zambia
within both the Fold & Thrust Belt and Western Foreland and which are
covered by the AFP-FQM Option Agreement which are held by AFP's 80% owned
subsidiary African Pioneer Zambia Ltd.  As announced on 26(th) October 2023
and 16 February 2024 FQM has exercised its option over all 4 licences owned by
African Pioneer Zambia Ltd.

 

Highlights

 

·    Drilling confirmed proof of concept that licences are in the right
lithology confirming Congo-style mineralisation.

·    4 diamond drill holes completed at the Turaco target for 1,297.1m.

·    A 772.3m deep diamond drill hole completed over the Ikatu on an Audio
Magneto Telluric ("AMT") generated target. Awaiting results.

·    9 reverse circulation ("RC") holes drilled at the Chipopa target for
a total of 780m. Awaiting results.

·    During the course of the programme FQM confirmed their intention to
exercise their option as reported on 16 February 2024.

·    The parties have met and agreed an appropriate ground relinquishment
strategy consistent with licence renewal required later in the year together
with an aggressive exploration programme.

 

Colin Bird Executive Chairman commented:

"Our Joint Venture with First Quantum is ground-breaking. The results
generated by this programme confirm proof of concept and the objective now is
to continue exploration with the mission to identify the requisite structure
and lithology conducive to mineral deposition similar to the Ivanhoe deposits
to the north.

 

"Apart from the well-known regional model we are identifying mineral
occurrences that may lead to other redox fronts which may lead to other
opportunities not previously considered prospective. With copper showing
14-month highs and analysts generally agreeing that the trend will continue,
our position in the NW of Zambia is enviable. Corporate activity is on the
increase, and we are delighted to be working with FQM who are one of the main
copper producers and have been hugely successful in Zambia".

 

 

Exploration during the period

Exploration completed during the period under review has included diamond and
reverse circulation ('RC") drilling guided initially by the Audio Magneto
Telluric ("AMT") and Passive Seismic geophysical surveys and geological
mapping and extensive soil geochemical anomalies completed in late 2023. This
exploration work has successfully provided a much-improved context to the
broader geology and has resulted in the construction of a regional section
that brings to the fore the architecture critical to both Kamoa and
Kolwezi-type mineralisation and the anticipated location of both the Fold and
Thrust Belt and the Western Foreland.

 

Follow-up diamond drilling was undertaken at the Turaco Target on Licence
27770-HG-LEL over earlier scout drilling with intercepts peaking at 1.18% Cu
over 8m from 5m depth.   4 holes were completed for a total of 1297.1m. Some
holes were potentially stopped prematurely in andesitic basalt and more recent
surface geochemical data suggests that conditions suitable for a redox front
and copper deposition may occur beneath the base of the basalt cover. FQM will
consider further drilling closer to the up-dip extension of the basalt unit to
test this possibility.

 

A 772.3m diamond drill hole was drilled as part of the AMT follow-up programme
at Ikatu with no significant Cu Mineralization and a further 9 RC holes were
completed for a total of 780m at the Chipopa Target.

 

Drilling was curtailed in late December 2023 partly due to limited
availability of diamond drill rigs and in the case of RC drilling,
unfavourable conditions brought on by the Rainy Season.

 

Turaco drilling intercepted a diamictite with a carbonaceous shale with
disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite, interpreted to be the Grand
Conglomérat. Salt related brecciation and complex faulting significnatly
disrupts stratigraphy and further work is required to better understand the
complexities of this Thrust and Fold Belt target.

 

The Ikatu diamond drilling in the Western Foreland was collared to test the
continuous conductor identified from the AMT survey. The hole intersected the
fine-grained carbonaceous siltstone and shale unit with associated
chalcopyrite conductor at 245m to 320m. The hole was extended to 772.3m and
generated a substantial amount of valuable geological information that has
helped build the regional geological section. U-Pb provenance geochronology on
the sandstones intersected and Re-Os dating on the carbonaceous shales has
been proposed by FQM to better constrain the stratigraphy.

 

9 RC holes totalling 780m were completed at Chipopa testing soil anomalies
within the Fold & thrust Belt. Analyses are pending.

 

Background

Previous exploration by FQM has confirmed the presence of mineralisation with
diagnostic regional geological and architectural similarities apparently
consistent with Kamoa-Kakula deposit mineralisation located in the DRC

 

AFP's licence package in Zambia covers part of the NW extension of the Zambian
Copperbelt. The properties are located within 80-100km of First Quantum
Minerals' Sentinel mine, one of the largest copper mines in Africa, with
current Measured and Indicated Resources 867.1Mt @ 0.44% Cu. The projects lie
on the Lufilian Fold Belt in the Domes region of the Central African
Copperbelt and comprise a geological package similar in age and rock type to
that hosting the major copper deposits of the Copperbelt. Therefore, the
licence areas are considered by AFP and FQM to be strongly prospective for
Copperbelt-type copper/cobalt and/or nickel deposits. They are historically
underexplored.

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 

 African Pioneer Plc                           Tel +44 (0) 20 7581 4477

 Colin Bird, Chairman
 Beaumont Cornish Limited (Financial Adviser)  Tel +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

 Roland Cornish/Asia Szusciak
 Novum Securities Limited (Broker)             Tel +44 (0) 20 7399 9400

 Jon Belliss

 

or visit   https://africanpioneerplc.com/

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").

Qualified Person:

Colin Bird : The technical information contained in this announcement has been
reviewed, verified, and approved by Colin Bird, C.Eng, FIMMM, South African
and UK Certified Mine Manager and Director of African Pioneer plc, with more
than 40 years' experience mainly in hard rock mining.

Glossary

 

 

 "Air-core drilling (AC)"                            A rotary drilling technique employing an annular drag bit in which cuttings
                                                     and small core samples are recovered through the drill rods by compressed air
 "Audio-magneto telluric (AMT)"                      A geophysical technique that measures variations in the Earth's natural
                                                     electromagnetic fields to detect electrical resistivity variations in the
                                                     subsurface horizons
 "Diamictite"                                        A lithified sedimentary rock that consists of

                                                     non-sorted to poorly sorted terrigenous sediment containing particles that
                                                     range in size from clay to boulders, suspended in a matrix of mudstone or
                                                     sandstone
 "DRC"                                               Democratic Republic of the Congo
 "ICP analysis"                                      An analytical method that provides total elemental analysis of materials in
                                                     solution
 "Indicated Mineral Resource"                        That part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade (or quality),
                                                     densities, shape and physical characteristics are estimated with sufficient
                                                     confidence to allow the application of Modifying Factors in sufficient detail
                                                     to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of
                                                     the  deposit. Geological evidence is derived from adequately detailed and
                                                     reliable exploration, sampling and testing gathered through appropriate
                                                     techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits workings and drill
                                                     holes, and is sufficient to assume geological and grade (or quality)
                                                     continuity between points of observation where data and samples are gathered.
                                                     (JORC 2012)
 "Mineralisation"                                    The concentration of metals and their chemical compounds within a body of rock
 "pXRF"                                              Hand-held instrument to determine the chemistry of a sample by measuring the
                                                     fluorescent (or secondary) X-ray emitted from a sample when it is excited by a
                                                     primary X-ray source
 "redox fronts"                                      In the case of Kamoa-style mineralisation characteristic of the Western
                                                     Foreland, a Redox Front is typically represented by a pyrite-rich siltstone
                                                     that acts as a reductant to copper-rich fluids passing through this reductant
                                                     and mineralising the lithological unit with sulphur converting to
                                                     chalcopyrite, chalcocite and bornite. The reductant is usually underlain by an
                                                     aquifer, a coarse-grained sandstone that facilitates the flow of
                                                     copper-bearing fluids to the pyrite-rich siltstone host.

 

 

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDQKPBPPBKDKQD