Aim-listed Kavango Resources’ portfolio of projects presents encouraging exploration potential, while Botswana also provides a favourable mining jurisdiction in which to operate, COO Brett Grist says in an operational update to shareholders, following his recent return from the country, where he conducted an extensive review of the company's operations.

“Botswana benefits from a skilled workforce, an excellent road network and a government that proactively supports mining. It has favourable geology for discoveries, as reflected in some of the recent high-grade copper discoveries now being operated in the Kalahari Copper Belt by companies such as Sandfire Resources.

“Now that I have spent time in-country, I have seen first-hand how Kavango has developed as a company over the last year. We now have a very strong team. The quality and volume of our work is notable for an exploration firm of our size. Our people are delivering a lot in the field and I expect results to start flowing in the not-too-distant future,” Grist comments.

KALAHARI SUTURE ZONE (KSZ)

He highlights the KSZ as the company’s largest and “most exciting project”.

“In 2021, Kavango embarked on an extremely ambitious drill campaign for a company of our size,” he notes.

The primary objective of this campaign was ‘proof of concept’, and Kavango has already reported some key facts from this.

This includes that in holes TA2DD002 and KSZDD001, Kavango's magnetic model of the Proterozoic age gabbros proved to be considerably accurate.

Moreover, Grist says the company’s drilling partner, Mindea Exploration and Drilling, has proven to be a very solid partner.

“Thanks to their work, Kavango became the first exploration company to successfully drill four consecutive deep boreholes into the KSZ, with each being taken past the planned depth.

“In total, Kavango drilled 3 230 m of diamond core drilling, with 99% core recovery. This gives us a great deal of confidence in Mindea's ability to support future drilling,” he highlights.

Also, the surface time domain electromagnetic and downhole electromagnetic data that Kavango’s geophysics partner Spectral Geophysics has gathered has proved to be high-quality, Grist notes.

KALAHARI COPPER BELT (KCB)

“The Kalahari Copper Belt has seen multiple recent discoveries developed into mines, meaning that this is an excellent destination to be exploring within. The style of mineralisation means that these are often relatively high-grade deposits.

While successful exploration on the KSZ offers potential for a historic achievement, the KCB in Kavango's view offers potential to make an earlier discovery,” Grist says.

He explains that Kavango has interests in 12 prospecting licences, totalling over 5 000 km² in the KCB. Kavango's interests are shared with Power Metal Resources, in a co-owned joint venture called Kanye Resources (ten licences) and with LVR Geoexplorers (two licences).

“This is a competitively significant mineral rights position in an under-explored area of the KCB,” highlights Grist.

A work programme is under way on multiple licences, including the recently acquired Mamuno licences, which are adjacent to the Namibian border and on which little work has previously been carried out. The Mamuno licences are held within Kanye Resources.

The KCB work consists of geological mapping and extensive soil sampling.

This, in combination with the soil sampling and geophysical data that Kavango already holds, will be used to tightly define and rank specific drill targets. Subject to successful results, a subsequent drill programme consisting of fences of drillholes may then be used to test anomalies and locate and validate mineralisation.

If results are positive, a follow-up diamond drilling programme will determine structure and potentially home-in on the focus of mineralisation.

DITAU CAMP PROJECT

At Ditau, Kavango is exploring multiple geophysical targets in an aggressive programme aimed at delivering rapid outcomes.

This work is led by combining geophysics with geological knowledge to try to fingerprint targets including carbonatites, which are known to occur in the region.

Kavango mobilised the diamond drill rig straight from the recent drill campaign in the KSZ to Ditau.

Grist says this reflects the company's commitment to accelerating exploration across its project portfolio.

Kavango, through subsidiary Kanye Resources, is planning to diamond-drill up to six holes into up to three targets on licence PL010/2019 at Ditau.

The primary target style is carbonatites, however, other mineralisation styles may also be intersected and so flexibility has been designed into this programme.

Grist says progress is already good, with Mindea having established a camp and mobilised the majority of equipment.

Water supply is key to drilling in a desert. Kavango has redrilled an old water well and has newly installed a solar-powered water pump, ensuring that a long-term sustainable solution is left for other local water users, he adds.

GENERAL

As well as meeting all the operational team and partners, Grist also met with the Department of Mines and with the Ministry of Mineral Resources.

He says both reiterated their support for Kavango and all other companies in operating responsibly in the mining and mineral exploration sector.

Grist also met with the University of Botswana, who Kavango will be working with going forwards. As a first step, Kavango has agreed to host students for study placements.