International diamond and metals exploration company Tsodilo Resources, following oral argument in the High Court in Maun, Botswana, with respect to the Ministry of Minerals and Energy's (MME's) decision not to renew a prospecting licence held by its Botswana subsidiary Gcwihaba Resources, notes that the judge indicated that a written judgment is to be expected by August 1, 2023.

In June 2021, Gcwihaba Resources submitted prospecting renewal licence applications for the Xaudum iron formation (XIF) project in the North-West district of Botswana.

Four of the five licences, which contain the bulk of the exploration target at XIF, were renewed as submitted, effective January 1, 2022, while the fifth licence continued in renewal.

The Minerals and Energy Minister in April 2022 informed Gcwihaba that the part of the area included in the fifth licence is in the buffer zone surrounding the Okavango Delta, and that any prospecting activities in that area would be subject to environmental assessment measures.

Gcwihaba responded by reminding the Minister that the licence in question had existed in its present form since 2008, which was six years before the buffer zone was established, and that significant exploration had already been conducted in that area prior to the establishment of the buffer zone in 2014.

The company also noted, at the time, that the buffer zone encroached on a portion of the company’s identified mineral resource, and that the prospecting licence in question had been renewed multiple times without any controversy.

Further, Gcwihaba expressed agreement that prospecting and mining activities in the area would be subject to various environmental standards and practices, and that the company was committed to meeting all these requirements.

However, on June 15, 2022, the Ministry advised that the licence would not be renewed if it included any areas located within the buffer zone.

The company then filed a revised renewal application, reducing the buffer zone area of the licence block. To date, Gcwihaba had not received a response to the revised licence application and, therefore, resorted to legal action.

Meanwhile, preliminary work on the XIF project has defined an inferred mineral resource of 441-million tonnes, with an average grade of 29.4% iron, 41% silicon dioxide, 6.1% aluminium oxide and 0.3% phosphor, for Block 1, which is a fraction of the potential total magnetite resource, Tsodilo Resources says.

An extrapolated exploration target has defined the XIF to be in the order of five-billion tonnes to seven-billion tonnes at 15% to 40% iron. Further exploration will be focused on Block 2a where the company expects an increase in the resource.