London-listed firms Caerus Mineral Resources and Jubilee Metals Group have committed to an immediate pilot sampling and investigation programme guided by Jubilee’s protocols and delivered initially by Caerus staff in the coming weeks.

This is being undertaken under the terms of a previously signed option agreement, that grants Jubilee the right  to convert any of the multiple waste-to-revenue candidate sites within Caerus' portfolio into a joint venture (JV).

When the option agreement was announced on May 4, Caerus considered targets, based on the tonnage, grade of copper and/or gold using historic records and recent drill-proven data, grouped into three broad project areas - Kalavasos, Mala and N Mathiatis.

Since April, and as a result of internal reviews and additional acquisitions, Caerus has identified a significant number of additional potential targets that fit Jubilee's criteria, with the total number of former mine sites increasing from 14 to 20 within the project areas, all of which are potentially eligible for a single-site JV arrangement.

The pilot programme will be completed ahead of a planned site visit in mid-September that will enable key Jubilee management and operations personnel to review multiple projects in person.

Caerus says it remains firmly committed to its twin-track policy of recovering value from waste at its brownfield sites through future JV with Jubilee, while seeking mining opportunities that will yield primary ore for profitable processing in a market urgently seeking copper for multiple global clean energy initiatives.

"I am very pleased to announce the commitment by ourselves and Jubilee to move forward and increase the pace of the programme by using our in-country knowledge and their technological expertise to initially identify priority targets and then ascertain those suitable for JV.

“We remain in constant dialogue with the Jubilee management team, and it is pleasing that we continue to find ways to move the programme forward and overcome unavoidable delays due to the pandemic,” Caerus CEO Martyn Churchouse says.