Botswana Minerals Secures Environmental Approval for Ngamiland Copper Exploration

Botswana Minerals Secures Environmental Approval for Ngamiland Copper Exploration. Botswana Minerals plc has received environmental authorisation to begin field exploration at its copper licences in Ngamiland, north-west Botswana, allowing the company to proceed with soil sampling to identify potential drilling targets.

The AIM- and Botswana Stock Exchange-listed company plans to conduct targeted soil sampling at licences 548 and 549. The programme will be funded from existing cash resources and is intended to help identify and prioritise areas for further investigation.

The authorisation follows a review of historical geological records and drill-core samples from the licence area, which identified evidence of copper mineralisation.

A Competent Person’s Report dated April 2018 recorded copper mineralisation in drillhole SHAK0007. The mineralisation was associated with haematite-quartz veining and copper-bearing sulphide minerals.

Botswana Minerals has also examined historical airborne electromagnetic data, identifying four conductors within a magnetic feature under investigation. Geochemical data recovered from the area revealed anomalies involving copper, zinc and other elements that could assist in directing exploration work.

The company said some previously identified exploration targets overlap with the conductors. However, the cause of the conductivity has not yet been confirmed.

Chairman John Teeling said the environmental authorisation would enable Botswana Minerals to undertake its first field programme on the licences.

The company plans to combine soil-sampling results with historical drill-core observations, geochemical information and geophysical data. This information will be used to refine and rank targets before potential drilling locations are selected.

The Ngamiland licences form part of Botswana Minerals’ 7,074-square-kilometre landholding in the north-eastern Damara Belt, a geological region considered prospective for copper and other minerals.Botswana Minerals is working with technical partner Planetary AI, using its Xplore platform to assess and rank exploration targets.

The planned fieldwork represents the next stage of the company’s exploration programme in Ngamiland, with the results expected to inform the selection of areas for further investigation.