I have my fingers crossed hoping that the step-out drill holes continue to amaze.
Step-out drilling testing the extension of the high-grade mineralization beyond the current three-kilometre strike length
Two rigs are drilling step-out holes to the southeast of Kakula’s currently defined high-grade core, looking to extend the high-grade mineralization beyond the current three-kilometre strike length. Two more rigs are drilling step-out holes further to the northwest to test the extension of the high-grade core in that direction.
Two other rigs are drilling in-fill holes and one is drilling a large-diameter core hole for the second phase of metallurgical test work. The initial metallurgical test results received in July 2016 from a sample of drill core from the Kakula Discovery zone achieved copper recoveries of 86% and produced a copper concentrate with an extremely high grade of 53% copper. The July results also indicated that material from Kamoa’s Kakula and Kansoko zones could be processed through the same concentrator plant, which would yield significant operational and economic efficiencies.
Earlier metallurgical testwork indicated that the Kamoa concentrates contain extremely low arsenic levels, by world standards: approximately 0.02%. Given this critical, competitive marketing advantage, Kamoa’s concentrates are expected to attract a significant premium from copper-concentrate traders for use in blending with concentrates from other mines. The Kamoa concentrates will help to enable high-arsenic concentrates from mines in Chile and elsewhere to meet the limit of 0.5% arsenic imposed by Chinese smelters to meet China’s new environmental restrictions.
