9 April 2024
Tertiary Minerals plc
("Tertiary" or "the Company")
DRILL START - KONKOLA WEST
COPPER PROJECT, ZAMBIA
Further to its announcement of 19
December 2023 regarding the signing of an earn-in agreement ("the
EIA") between a subsidiary of KoBold Metals Company ("KoBold"), the
Company's 96% owned subsidiary Tertiary Minerals (Zambia) Limited
("TMZ") and TMZ's local partner Mwashia Resources Ltd ("Mwashia"),
the Company is pleased to announce that:
·
The Minister for Mines for Zambia, the Hon. Paul
Kabuswe, has given consent to the EIA which provides for KoBold to earn into Exploration Licence
27067-HQ-LEL known as the Konkola West Copper Project in
Zambia.
·
The Board of the Zambian Competition and Consumer
Protection Commission has given its final unconditional
authorisation for the EIA.
·
As a result of these authorisations, all of the
conditions precedent to the EIA have been met and the EIA is now
operative.
·
KoBold expects to commence drilling later this
month.
Patrick Cheetham, Executive
Chairman of Tertiary Minerals plc said:
"KoBold has been advancing its drill plans in parallel with
the consent process and these approvals clear the way for drilling
to start. The first drill site has been selected, the drill
contract has been let, drill site preparation has
been completed and equipment mobilisation is in progress, with
drilling expected to start by the end of April."
"This is a very exciting and potentially transformational time
for Tertiary. Drilling will test for deep copper mineralisation in
the main ore shale that hosts Vedanta's Konkola Deeps deposit and
the nearby Mingomba deposit where KoBold has recently announced it
will develop one of the highest grade copper mines in the
world."
Further Information:
Tertiary Minerals plc:
|
Patrick Cheetham, Executive
Chairman
|
+44 (0) 1625 838
679
|
SP
Angel Corporate Finance LLP
Nominated Adviser and Broker
|
Richard Morrison
|
+44 (0) 203 470 0470
|
Caroline Rowe
|
|
Peterhouse Capital Limited
Joint Broker
|
Lucy Williams
|
+ 44 (0) 207 469 0930
|
Duncan Vasey
|
|
Market Abuse Regulation
The information contained within
this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside
information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU)
No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ('MAR'). Upon the publication
of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'),
this inside information is now considered to be in the public
domain.
Background Information
The Konkola West Project comprises
Exploration Licence 27067-HQ-LEL which covers 71.9 sq. km. and is
located 18km northwest of Chingola in the Central African
Copperbelt.
The Konkola West Project is
targeting projected deep down-dip and along-strike extensions of
the contiguous Lubambe-Mingomba-Konkola copper deposits to the east
of the Licence and which extend north into the Musoshi mining
complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Together these
deposits comprise a 15 kilometres long continuous zone of
mineralisation that contained a pre-mining endowment of over 775
million tonnes grading 2-3% copper. Konkola West, is located
approximately 2,000 metres southwest of the Mingomba deposit, which
lies between the Konkola and Lubambe mines, and has historic
resource estimates with around 9 million tonnes of contained
copper.
The Company's other interests in
Zambia include the Jacks Copper Project, where the Company
completed soil sampling and drilling in 2022 and where further
drilling is now warranted, and also the Mukai and Mushima North
project areas which are subject to a data sharing and technical
cooperation with First Quantum Minerals. Recent soil sampling at
Mukai and Mushima North has recently defined a number of large
copper-in-soil anomalies.
The Company also owns a portfolio of
base metal and precious metal projects in Nevada, USA and a
fluorspar deposit in Sweden.
Mwashia Resources is a private
Zambian company and the Company's partner in the Konkola West,
Jacks, Mukai and Mushima North Projects (see announcement dated 26
February 2024).
KoBold Metals is a US-based,
privately held, mineral exploration company that couples
geoscience, data science, machine learning, and artificial
intelligence to search for the critical minerals needed for the
clean energy transition and to accelerate growth in electric
vehicles. KoBold is backed by technology investors including
Breakthrough Energy Ventures (initiated by Bill Gates) and Silicon
Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, as well as
institutional investors such as T. Rowe Price and Canadian Pension
Plan Investment Board.
For further information on KoBold
and its activities in Zambia see
https://koboldmetals.com/