Dual-listed Shuka Minerals has successfully completed the eighth drill hole, KBDD08, in the previously unmined Speaks and Mine Club zones at the Kabwe zinc mine, in Zambia.

The company and its consultant GeoQuest planned these exploration holes to intersect a different, previously unexploited orebody in the Speaks and Mine Club areas about 1 km north-west from the Pit 2 area where it has been focussing its studies to date.

KBDD08 represents the third exploratory drill hole, targeting the more central part of the Speaks and Mine Club areas, which represents the northern extension of the old, and previously unexploited, section of the Kabwe zinc/lead/copper deposit.

Pinpoint XRF readings over the defined mineralised intervals ranged from 1% to 22% zinc.

Lead is present as values ranging from 0.1% to 3.3% lead.

Copper grades of up to 3% were also detected in line with the historically reported copper oxide mineralisation.

The Behre Dolbear 2023 National Instrument 43-101 report indicates that the Speaks orebody contains 1.94-million tonnes of indicated and inferred resource at grades of 12% zinc and 2% lead.

The Mine Club orebody contains 666 000 t of indicated and inferred resource at grades of 11.7% zinc and 0.8% lead, plus silver and vanadium oxide.

Copper mineralisation has also been reported in the northerly areas.

Encouragingly, the mineralisation thickens in the central part of the northerly area and the copper oxide mineralisation the board expected in the central and southern areas of Speaks and Mine Club is appearing.

Shuka will continue to drill KB009 and KB010 to target the southern areas of the underexplored Mine Speaks and Club orebodies.

The GeoQuest geological team are on site with Shuka CEO Richard Lloyd, who is overseeing the initial phase of drilling, which has now been extended to 2 500 m owing to the good results received to date.

Drilling is being undertaken by Ox Drilling, a contractor with 21 years established operating experience in Zambia.

“It is encouraging to see the orebody thicken and show its copper mineralisation as we head into the more central area of Speaks and Mine Club. These exploration holes are giving us confidence in north-south continuity along the entire orebody. Historically, the Speaks orebody was thought to be a lot more patchy; this is proving not to be the case. We are hoping to hit a lot more high-grade zinc mineralisation as well as copper,” Lloyd says.