REG - Botswana Minerals - AI-Assisted Exploration Identifies Copper Targets

Botswana MineralsAnnouncement

21/05/2026 07:00

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RNS Number : 1556F  Botswana Minerals PLC  21 May 2026

 

21(st) May 2026

Botswana Minerals plc

("Botswana Minerals" or the "Company")

AI-Assisted Exploration Analysis Identifies Copper Targets in Botswana

Highlights

-     36 copper anomalies identified by AI-assisted analysis across two of
the Company's eight licences in Botswana

-     Six exploration "corridors"

-     Widespread carbonate host rocks and other features across the
licences, key in many of the world's copper mines

-     On the ground field exploration is being planned to rank the
anomalies for next-stage drilling of the top targets

-     Field work to begin within three months

-     The AI evaluation is being extended to the other six licences on the
block

Botswana Minerals plc, the AIM- and Botswana Stock Exchange-listed copper and
diamond exploration company, announces that an AI-assisted exploration study
across two of its eight northern Botswana licences has identified 36 copper
anomalies grouped within six exploration "corridors" (geological trends
containing clusters of anomalies).

The licences lie within an under-explored geological corridor linking
Namibia's Damara Belt with the Central African Copperbelt of Zambia and the
DRC: two of Africa's most important copper regions. The anomalies identified
share the geological characteristics of several major operating and historical
deposits and fieldwork to identify the top targets for drilling will commence
shortly. The ongoing work is evaluating the remaining six licences.

 

John Teeling, Chairman of Botswana Minerals, commented:

"There is no doubt that AI techniques are revolutionising identification of
mineral targets. The ongoing analysis of our huge database continues to
provide outstanding results.

"The work complete to date, covering two of our eight licences in northern
Botswana, has identified 36 copper anomalies.

"The analysis uses data from copper mines around the world to identify areas
with similar geological characteristics, with the next step to rank these
anomalies to better focus future fieldwork and any subsequent drilling
decisions. This involves deeper AI analysis to support targeted field work."

 

Next steps

Botswana Minerals will proceed by undertaking the following workstreams:

•    Initial field work expected to begin within three months;

•    Apply the same AI-assisted methodology across its six remaining
northern Botswana licences;

•    Refine and rank the 36 target areas identified to date;

•    Plan field programmes across the highest-priority corridors; and

•    Prepare the next phase of exploration work based on the integrated
target inventory.

Further announcements will be made in due course.

 

Background Information

Strategic context

The Company's eight licences lie along the geological corridor linking
Namibia's Damara Belt with the Lufilian Arc of the Central African Copperbelt
in Zambia and the DRC, via northern Botswana. Geological evidence supports a
single, continuous belt formed during the Pan-African collision of the Congo
and Kalahari Cratons: the ancient tectonic plates of central and southern
Africa, and this belt hosts the world's largest sediment-hosted copper
province.

The Company's northern licences sit on the southern edge of the Congo Craton,
in the same geological setting and carbonate host rocks that host the Tsumeb
polymetallic mine and the Kaoko Copper Belt of northern Namibia. Despite this
favourable geology, the area has historically seen limited modern exploration
and is therefore considered by the Company to be highly prospective.

Figure 1: [Location of the Company's northern Botswana licences and
interpreted exploration corridors]

Data integration

The assessment was completed using Planetary AI's Xplore platform, which
combines machine-learning techniques with expert geological reasoning to
identify prospective ground from very large, multi-disciplinary datasets. The
work integrated:

•    geological mapping and rock-type boundaries;

•    structural data and interpreted fault patterns;

•    magnetic and gravity geophysical data;

•    multi-element geochemistry; and

•    remote-sensing data.

These datasets were interpreted together to identify major structures,
potential pathways for mineralised fluids, alteration zones and favourable
rock units, and to produce a ranked inventory of exploration target areas.

Outputs were reviewed and validated by experienced geologists throughout and
tested against multiple deposit models to ensure that the targets identified
are supported by multiple lines of evidence rather than relying on isolated
anomalies.

Preliminary results

The work has identified 36 priority targets across the two northern licences,
grouped into six corridors, each with characteristics consistent with a
different style of mineralisation. Key features include:

•    geochemical and geophysical anomalies aligned with major faults that
can act as pathways for ore-bearing fluids;

•    widespread favourable carbonate host rocks across the licences,
suitable for both sediment-hosted and structurally controlled copper and
base-metal mineralisation;

•    evidence of hydrothermal copper systems, including possible
IOCG-style mineralisation; and

•    magnetic features and alteration in several corridors, consistent
with mineralisation across a wider mineral district.

Geological analogues

The targets share a similar geological setting to several major operating and
historic deposits that will be familiar to investors:

•    Tara, Navan, Ireland (Boliden): carbonate-hosted lead-zinc
(Irish-type / MVT); one of Europe's largest zinc mines.

•    Kamoa-Kakula, DRC (Ivanhoe Mines, TSX: IVN): a giant sediment-hosted
copper deposit of the Central African Copperbelt.

•    Tsumeb, northern Namibia: historic copper-lead-zinc-silver mine; one
of the world's premier carbonate-hosted polymetallic deposits.

•   Olympic Dam, South Australia (BHP): a globally significant IOCG
deposit; among the largest copper deposits in the world.

 

These references are provided for geological context only, to illustrate the
deposit styles being targeted; no inference is drawn or implied as to the
scale of any mineralisation that may be present on the Company's licences.

 

Enquiries

 Botswana Minerals PLC
 John Teeling, Chairman             +353 1 833 2833
 James Campbell, Managing Director  +27 83 457 3724
 Jim Finn, Director                 +353 1 833 2833

 

 Nominated & Financial Adviser      +44 (0) 20 7409 3494

 Strand Hanson Limited
 Ritchie Balmer
 Rory Murphy
 Edward Foulkes

 

 Joint Broker           +44 (0) 20 7374 2212

 First Equity Limited
 Jason Robertson

 

 Joint Broker          +44 (0) 20 3005 5000

 VSA Capital Limited
 Andrew Monk
 Andrew Raca

 

 Public Relations  +44 (0) 20 7138 3204

 BlytheRay
 Megan Ray
 Said Izagaren

 

 Teneo          +353 (0) 1 661 4055
 Luke Hogg
 Ciara McNamee
 Molly Mooney

 

Competent Person Statement

 

This release has been approved by James Campbell, Managing Director of
Botswana Minerals plc, a qualified geologist (Pr.Sci.Nat), a Fellow of the
Geological Society of South Africa, a Fellow of the Southern African Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy, a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Metals and
Mining (UK) and with over 40 years' experience in the diamond sector,
specifically focusing on exploration, resource assessment and mining.

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law
by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended.

 

 

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