Kavango completes first drilling at Zim project, looks to trial mine before year-end

By miningweekly.com

London-listed diversified miner Kavango Resources has successfully completed an initial resource drilling programme at the Prospect 3 target on the Hillside gold project, in Zimbabwe.

The programme has provided Kavango with sufficient geological information and sample material to conduct assay, metallurgical and geotechnical testwork at the prospect.

Kavango aims to have further testwork inform an initial maiden resource and, if warranted, a trial openpit heap leach mining operation.

The initial drill programme involved 34 diamond drill holes for a total 2 109 m, which confirmed the presence of shear zones hosting quartz veins below historical artisanal mine works.

Further structural work will identify the different vein sets present and their relationship to the various shears, faults and mineralisation in the broader area.

Kavango CE Ben Turney confirms that the company can start production in the area before the end of the year, if a mineable resource at Prospect 3 can be proved.

“We only set Kavango Zimbabwe up in July 2023, so to be on the cusp of hopefully moving one of our discoveries into production in such a short period of time is a significant achievement,” he adds.

Kavango is prospecting for rare earths, iron-ore, copper and gold in Southern Africa, with the aim of developing both openpit and underground mines through modern mechanised mining.

Kavango has another project on the same greenstone belt as Hillside in Zimbabwe, called Nara.

The Hillside project comprises two high-priority targets, Prospect 3 and 4, with Prospect 3 being amenable to openpit selective bulk mining and possibly underground mechanised mining.

At Prospect 4, Kavango is pursuing a high-grade underground opportunity that is amenable to mechanised mining.