TSX-V-listed Tsodilo Resources has confirmed that its subsidiary Gcwihaba Resources can proceed with concluding a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on a prospecting licence, in Botswana, following legal delays.

The High Court of Botswana in December ordered the Minister of Minerals and Energy to renew Gcwihaba Resources’ one prospecting licence and to align the effective dates of contiguous licences with that of the renewed licence within 14 days.

Since the respondents did not file an appeal by the February 15 deadline, work in the prospective area can continue.

The prospecting licence forms part of the subsidiary’s Xaudum Iron Formation (XIF) project, which has an inferred mineral resource of 441-million tonnes grading an average 29.4% iron, 41% silicon dioxide, 6.1% aluminium oxide and 0.3% phosphorous, for the Block 1 magnetite XIF area.

The XIF project extends for a known length of about 40 km, with Block 1 only being a fraction of the XIF resource’s potential.

Gcwihaba instituted legal proceedings after the Minister in April 2022 informed it that a part of the area included in the prospecting licence is in a buffer zone surrounding the Okavango Delta, and that any prospecting activities in that area would be subject to environmental assessment measures.

Despite filling a revised renewal application, reducing the buffer zone area of the prospecting licence block, Gcwihaba had received no response from the Minister, which prompted the legal action.

Tsodilo chairperson and CEO James Bruchs says staff and contractors have been standing by to finish the work needed on the PEA, while the company has received renewed interest from investors and third parties wanting information on the project.

Moreover, more exploration will focus on Block 2a of the XIF project, where the company expects the resource to increase.