To support technical operations at Zambia-based private resource company Zamsort’s Kalaba Cu-Co copper and cobalt project, UK-based resources company Ortac CEO Vassilio Carellas joined the company’s board of directors last month.

This move follows Ortac’s $600 000 convertible loan investment in Zamsort, providing Ortac with a nondilutable 10.71% stake in the Zambian company, which can be increased to 19.35% by exercising a call option.

Carellas notes that, as part of the investment’s due diligence process, Ortac and Zamsort are assessing the feasibility of establishing an on-site beneficiation plant at Kalaba Cu-Co for a “modest capital outlay” to process copper and cobalt. The plant could be established by year-end, if found to be economically viable.

Further, Ortac and Zamsort plan to extend exploration at the Kalaba Cu-Co project, following the receipt of a large-scale prospecting licence last year. Zamsort received a licence in 2005 to mine within a 4 km2 area, which is now located within its 1 000 km2 large-scale prospecting licence.

Carellas notes that mining operations at the project are being carried out on surface and the already oxidised orebodies are being rudimentarily treated before being shipped to offtakers.

Based on previous scout drilling programmes, Kalaba Cu-Co has recorded a noncode compliant resource of 16.59-million tons, with a copper equivalent content of 0.94%, which has been registered with the relevant Zambian authorities.

“Given that there are deposits with more than one-billion tons of resources established in this part of the belt, Ortac believes that the current resource could be substantially [greater],” Carellas avers.

He points out that transport of the mined materials to market remains one of the most significant hurdles at Kalaba Cu-Co, adding that the lack of infrastructure in the region has been a challenge for a number of years.

However, the establishment of Canadian metals and mining company First Quantum Resource’s Sentinel mine, near Kalaba Cu-Co, which started production in the fourth quarter of last year, has drastically improved infrastructure in the area.