20 November 2024
Kavango Resources
("Kavango" or "the
Company")
ZIM - Drilling New Underground Targets
at Nara
Kavango Resources plc (LSE:KAV), the Southern
Africa focussed metals exploration company, is pleased to announce
a new phase of drilling at its Nara gold exploration project
("Nara") in Matabeleland, southern Zimbabwe.
Kavango's objective is to test significant,
previously unrecognised underground potential at Nara for laterally
extensive gold mineralisation across multiple mineralised shears
("reefs").
Following a review of historic and recent
exploration data compiled from Nara, Kavango's exploration team
identified a new opportunity for the Company to pursue. The Nara
project area contains several historic mines, including N1 which is
reported to have produced 72,468 ounces ("oz") of gold at an
average grade of 10 grams a ton ("g/t) and N2 which is reported to
have produced 18,165 oz of gold at an average grade of 8.9g/t
between 1904 and 1964.
Kavango's immediate exploration focus on Nara
is the N1 mine. N1 is currently being mined to 4-level by artisanal
miners who are contracted to the current owner of Nara. Development
levels 5 and 6 have flooded, which the Company believes has
protected the remaining underground ore body from the artisanal
miners.
Kavango holds an option to acquire Nara
until June 2025 (announced
>>> 26 June 2023).
In June 2024, Kavango drilled exploration hole
NAKLDD001 underneath the main shaft and development levels at N1.
This hole transected several mineralised shears or "reefs" hosting
gold in quartz and quartz-carbonate veins, both close to surface
and at depth (announced
>>> 13 August 2024). Highlights included:
·
2.1m @ 1.54 g/t, from 54.9m to 57.0m
· 1m
@ 1.88 g/t, from 235.5m to 236.5m
·
0.5m @ 7.0 g/t, from 237m to 237.5m
· 1m
@ 3.78 g/t, from 241m to 242m
Subsequent to this, Kavango digitised old mine
plans and development sections of the historic workings at N1.
Comparing the digitised plans and sections with the results of
NAKLDD001, the Company believes the higher-grade mineralisation
intersected from 235.5m to 242m coincides with the down dip
extension of the N1 Main Reef, which was never developed or
mined.
Figure 1: Oblique view of the digitized underground
development at N1 with the borehole trace for NAKLDD001 marked, the
histograms in red down the borehole trace represent the gold
intersections.
Ben Turney,
Chief Executive of Kavango Resources, commented:
"Now that we
understand more about the geological structures at Nara, we are
pursuing the new underground potential energetically. We mobilised
our drill rig to the project quickly and are testing the potential
for a large-scale underground gold mine.
We targeted
the ore body underneath the N1 historic mine in the first phase of
drilling. On completion of the digitised wireframe model, we
appreciated the significance of the drill results from Hole
NAKLDD001. The high-grade gold intercepts between 235.5m and 242m
depth coincide with the depth of a projected 7 Level in this
mine.
Here, we
intercepted 1m of gold mineralisation grading at 1.88g/t from
235.5m, 0.5m of gold mineralisation grading at 7g/t from 237m and
1m of gold mineralisation grading at 3.78g/t from
241m.
This is
significant because historic mining at N1 only went down to 6
Level. One of the main unanswered questions we had about this was
whether the ore body continued to 7 Level and
below.
Levels 5 and
6 at N1 have flooded with slimes. While this has meant our
exploration team has been unable to access these levels, it also
means the ore body has almost certainly been protected from recent
mining. This could present substantial near-term
upside
Now that it
appears we have confirmed the downdip extension at N1, we will test
the lateral strike extent with the next three exploration
holes.
Given that
there are mines on the same regional structure as Nara that have
been mined below 25 Level (>750m depth from surface), this could
be developing into a significant opportunity for
Kavango."
Kavango's
Operations in Zimbabwe
Kavango is exploring for gold deposits in
Zimbabwe that have the potential to be brought into production
quickly through modern mechanised mining. The Company is targeting
both open-pit and underground opportunities.
Currently, Kavango has two projects on the same
greenstone belt, Hillside and Nara.
Kavango exercised its option to acquire
Hillside in April 2024. Here the Company has two high-priority
targets that it hopes to bring into production over the next 18
months; Prospect 3 and Prospect 4. At Prospect 3 Kavango is
investigating the potential for an open-pit bulk mining operation.
Meanwhile, at Prospect 4 Kavango is pursuing a high-grade,
underground bulk-minable opportunity.
In parallel to this, Kavango has an option to
acquire the Nara Project that currently runs until the end of June
2025. Here, the Company is exploring for a large-scale,
bulk-minable underground deposit at Nara. The primary target zone
is around the historic N1 mine, where the Company is assessing the
potential to expand artisanal workings at depth and along
strike.
Nara Drill
Programme Testing New Underground Targets
The N1 mine is reported to have produced 72,468
ounces ("oz") of gold at grades of 10.0g/t before its closure in
the early 1980s. It has not been systematically explored or mined
in the modern era, with work limited to artisanal mining at or near
the surface.
Kavango has placed a contract with Equity
Drilling Zimbabwe to drill an initial three holes for 1,500m. The
rig has now been mobilised to hole NAKLDDL003, and drilling is
underway.
·
Kavango previously drilled hole NAKLDD001 to test the
continuation of gold grades at depth beneath the central portion of
the N1 mine workings and development (announced
>>> 13 August 2024) .
·
Hole NAKLDD001 intersected a zone of mineralisation
immediately beneath the development workings, indicating
mineralisation on the historically mined reef is open at depth.
Highlight intersections include:
§ 1m @ 1.88g/t Au from
235.5m to 236.5m
§ 0.5m @ 7.02g/t Au
from 237m to 237.5m
§ 1m @ 3.78g/t Au from
241m to 242m
·
Significantly, Hole NAKLDD001 also intersected:
o A new hanging wall
reef under moderate cover and close to surface that has not
currently been identified at surface or worked by the historic or
artisanal miners. Highlight intersections include:
§ 2.10m @ 1.54g/t Au
from 54.9m to 57.0m
o A new reef in the
footwall below the old N1 mine workings. Highlight intersections
include:
§ 0.50m @ 1.99g/t Au
from 279m to 279.50m
o Two further reefs at
depth, both exhibiting sheared textures, veining and
sulphides.
·
These areas are seen in Figures 2 and 3 below:
Figure 2: N1 plan map of surface workings and underground
development with hole NAKLDD001.
Figure 3: N1 sectional view
looking NW showing underground development and hole NAKLDD001,
intersected gold grades are indicated by the red histogram and
labelled. Logged "reef" structures are also
marked.
·
Induced Polarisation ("IP") surveying over the entire N1 mine
zone subsequently identified a discrete resistivity low coincident
with the central portion of the mine workings and the
mineralisation intersected by hole NAKLDD001.
o The resistivity low
thins and shallows towards the northwest and drops off to the
southeast before picking up again, as seen in Figure 4.
Figure 4: N1 surface workings and underground development with
regional structures and planned boreholes on plan (left) and in
section (right) with IP resistivity images.
·
Kavango's technical team believes the IP results, along with
the new zones of mineralisation intersected by hole NAKLDD001,
offer compelling evidence for the continuation of gold
mineralisation along strike of the N1 development
workings.
· The
Company has now begun to drill three holes along strike of hole
NAKLDD001 into areas of the N1 mine zone that historic development
data indicate to be entirely undrilled and with no known
development.
o Hole NAKDDL002 and
Hole NAKLDD004, will test whether gold mineralisation continues at
depth in areas to the NW and SE of NAKLDD001 respectively, where
historic development appears to be restricted to shallow levels
near to the surface.
o Hole NAKDDL003 will
test whether the mineralised structures at N1 mine extend into an
area southeast of NAKDDL001 that appears to have never been
mined.
o The proposed
locations of the three holes are seen in Figure 4.
·
Further, all three holes have been designed to test the
continuation along strike of the new hanging wall and foot wall
reefs identified in hole NAKDDL001, as shown in Figure
4.
·
Successful completion of this programme will be followed by
further drilling to establish grade and continuity in the new
target areas.
Nara
Background
The Nara claims are centred on the historic N1
and N2 mines, as shown in Figure 5 below.
Figure 5: Nara claims geology map overlain on magnetic
Intensity (TMI) image, with location of completed scoping holes,
historic mines and artisanal surface workings. Note the interpreted
vein shears now extend the full length of the claims
package.
Gold was mined at the N1 mine at historical
grades reported to be 10.0 grams per tonne ("g/t") with a strike
length of 838m down to a known vertical depth of 191m.
The mine is reported to have produced around
72,468 oz (Bartholomew 1990) of gold from initial production in
1902 up to final closure in the early 1980s due to the death of the
owner.
The N1 Mine has previously been interpreted as
the immediate western extension of the N2 Mine approximately 1.2km
to the SE. However, the recent intersection of the new hanging wall
reef in hole NAKLDD001 suggests this reef may be the lateral
extension of the N2 Mine.
On surface, the N1 mine zone currently has a
strike of about 1,000m. However, recent interpretation of the
ground magnetics and IP suggests this could extend up to 2,600m
from the dyke in the NW through to the N2 mine zone in the SE, the
N1 Mine Extension Zone marked on Figure 5.
According to historic reports and underground
plans, two parallel mineralised quartz vein reefs dipping between
50 & 70° to the NE were mined along approximately 838m of
strike. The reefs were reported to have been between 1.5 and 6m
wide.
The recent intersections in hole NAKLDD001,
directly below the historic mine development are supportive of this
conclusion.
The N2 Mine, which had a reported historical
production of 18,167oz at an average recovered grade of 8.9g/t was
exploited along a strike length of approx. 300m down to vertical
depth of 267m.
According to historic reports, there are at
least two parallel mineralised zones at N2 dipping at
50o northwards.
A third orebody was discovered to the north,
and historical reports mention the importance of exploration cross
cutting as a successful means of intersecting additional parallel
reefs. This emphasises the need for additional drilling along the
entire strike.
The reef intersected in hole NAFWDD001 under
artisanal workings appears to be coincident with the interpreted
extension of the new hanging wall reef. Highlight intersections
include 0.63m @ 0.82g/t Au between 73.28m and 73.91m.
Artisanal workings directly south of this reef
remain to be tested in future drilling to assess if this could be
the extension of the N1 mine zone NW of the dyke, named the NW
Extension Zone in Figure 5.
Artisanal workings and an intersection in Hole
NABZDD001 to the SE are interpreted from the ground magnetics and
IP to be potential extensions of the new hanging wall reef and the
N1 main zone and named the SE Extension Zone. Highlight
intersections include 2.80m @ 1.66g/t Au from 36m to
38.80m.
Regional Mine
Depths on Nara
Most of the mines in the Greenstone belt that
Kavango is building its business on have been owned and worked by
small scale mine workers. Many of these mines have only been
exploited to relatively shallow depths for the following main
reasons:
·
Lack of capital.
·
Lack of awareness of developments in modern mining concepts,
available improvements in mining and processing technology and
expertise.
·
Exploitation primarily of oxide material with limited
sulphide ore processed due to antiquated crushing facilities and
lack of access to modern metallurgical processing technology or
facilities.
· Low
production rates (example Jessie Mine in Gwanda is down 1.3km but
this has taken the family over 100 years to achieve. An
exploitation rate of only 13 vertical metres per year)
·
Poor ventilation
Only a few of the mines have been consolidated
in the past and mined at relatively large scale. These mines have
demonstrated the significant potential for large scale gold
mineralisation at depth. These mines include the
following:
·
Fred
Mine - developed down 31 levels a vertical
depth of 1,100m. The mine produced 171,618oz. (5,337.94kgs) @ 12.2g/t
recovered (Baglow Page 164*). Approx. 9.5km from Nara.
·
Red Wing
Mine - developed to 13 level a vertical
depth of 450m and operated by the same company as Fred Mine. The
mine produced 7,415oz.
(230.64kgs) @ 10.7g/t recovered grade. (Baglow Page 197*). Approx.
7.8km WNW on the same regional structure.
·
Marvel
Mine - developed to 640m below surface.
The mine produced 1,439
oz. (44.76kgs) @ 4.6g/t recovered grade (Baglow Page 186*).
Approx. 12.7km west on a branch of the same regional
structure.
·
Teutonic
Mine - developed on a 59 incline to
approximately 1,000m below surface. The mine
produced 19,437 oz.
(604.56kgs) @ 18.7g/t recovered grade (Baglow Page 211). Approx.
9.7km to the SE on the same regional structure.
Next
Steps
The Company intends to complete the current
drill programme on the N1 mine zone to establish the grade and
continuity of the N1 Main reef.
Successful completion of this programme will
trigger further drilling to establish grade and continuity of the
N1 Extension Zone, NW Extension Zone and SE Extension
Zone.
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 geology and exploration have been
compiled by Mr David Catterall, a Competent Person and a member of
a Recognised Professional Organisations (ROPO). David Catterall has
sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the
activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as
defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting
of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC
2012). David is the principal geologist at Tulia Blueclay Limited
and a consultant to Kavango Resources. David Catterall is a member
of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions, a
recognised professional organisation.
Reference
*The Geology of the Filabusi Greenstone Belt
and surrounding granitic terrane. Baglow N.1998. Zimbabwe
Geological Survey Bulletin No 91