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July 2016
MODERN MINING
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COUNTRY FOCUS
BOTSWANA
Fax: +27 (0)11 383 9305 email: winder@winder.co.za HOISTING SOLUTIONS Tel: +27 (0)11 383 9300 Winder Controls is a leader in the mechanical, electrical and hydraulic design, manufacture and installa- tion of mine winders and related equipment. Our designs comply with the latest international safety and reliability standards including SIL assessments where applicable. Our services include relocations, refur- bishment and upgrades, as well as full aftersales and maintenance support. In addition we offer a range of special products including steel wire rope handling equipment, Three Chamber Energy recovery systems and Nuclear Waste Disposal Technology. www.winder.co.za“In addition to the vein hosted and
disseminated chalcopyrite minerali-
sation, high tenor copper sulphides
including bornite and covellite have
been intersected in veins in many drill
holes,” says MOD in the release.
“Very high individual silver assays
(including 199 g/t, 244 g/t and 363 g/t
Ag in hole MO-G-09D) are generally
associated with very high individual
copper assays (including 8,36 %, 10,2 %
and 21,5 % Cu in hole MO-G‑09D)
within veins where assays are available.
MO-G‑09D is located at the eastern end
of the resource area and further drilling
is required to determine the extent of
these bonanza Cu/Ag veins.”
The release notes that MOD has
received further soil samples that have
identified a new 4 km long copper/zinc
anomaly to the east and west of the
Phase 1 resource area, extending the
zone of soil anomalies more than 12 km
along the T3 Dome. In addition, RC
drilling has begun to test an extensive
copper/zinc anomaly approximately
3 km east of Phase 1.
The effort that MOD is putting into
the resource drilling programme gives
some indication of the excitement
within the company over the poten-
tial of the T3 discovery. Reflecting
this, Hanna has recently announced
his departure from the board of nickel
miner Western Areas Ltd, after 12 years
serving as its inaugural MD and then
four years as a non-executive director,
so that he can devote all his time and
energy to MOD.
Currently, approximately 60 people
are employed at T3 through the MOD/
Metal Tiger joint venture, with the level
of activity still increasing. The explo-
ration effort is led by MOD’s General
Manager Exploration (Africa), Jacques
Janse van Rensburg, a South African
geologist with extensive experience
not only in Botswana but also South
Africa and the DRC. He has built up
considerable experience in the Kalahari
Copperbelt, having being project man-
ager with Hana Mining (later bought by
Cupric Canyon) for three years prior to
joining MOD in 2011.
The current priority is to com-
plete a maiden resource for T3 in the
third quarter of this year – just several
months from the first drilling of the
target – and this work is currently on
track. While T3 is currently receiving
the bulk of the joint venture’s attention,
exploration programmes are also being
planned for other targets acquired as
part of the DMI deal. These include
T4 (Tshimologo), where RC drilling in
February this year intersected 2 m at
6,12 % Cu and 111 g/t Ag, T5 and T7
(Ghanzi South).
Looking at the prospects for the
Kalahari Copperbelt over the next sev-
eral years, Cupric Canyon and MOD
Resources between them hold the bulk
of the prospective ground and are the
only companies with any real pros-
pect of developing mines in the area
in the near to medium term. Cupric
is well advanced at this stage with its
Zone 5 project, which it expects to
have in production by 2019. By con-
trast, MOD (in association, of course,
with Metal Tiger) is in a much earlier
phase in the exploration/development
cycle. Whether T3 can support a mine
remains to be seen but certainly the
early results are encouraging and one
suspects that it is a deposit that one
will be hearing much more about over
the coming months.
Report by Arthur Tassell, photos by Nick O’Reilly
(QP for Metal Tiger)