Ivanhoe identifies underexplored area within the Zambian Copperbelt
Much like the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex and the Western Forelands Exploration Project in the DRC, the Zambian licences represent an underexplored potential extension of the Central African Copperbelt. Working closely with the Ministry of Mines and leveraging its in-depth knowledge of the Central African Copperbelt, Ivanhoe’s geologists selected the Zambian licences based on a detailed review of available exploration data.
BHP Billiton flew airborne geophysics over sections of Ivanhoe’s licence package in the late 2000s, as part of a larger exploration program across western and central Zambia targeting IOCG-style mineralization. BHP exited its African operations in 2015. No work has been carried out on the licences since 2015.
In August 2024, the Zambia Ministry of Mines commenced a country-wide airborne geophysical survey that started in the west of the country, including over Ivanhoe’s new licence package. The geophysical survey consists of a high-resolution airborne magnetics survey at 300-metre-line spacings. The shared results will expedite Ivanhoe’s exploration efforts, saving at least six months in acquisition time and costs.
Remarkably, like Kamoa-Kakula and the Western Forelands, the Zambian and Angolan licences have had very little prior exploration activity, as they are covered by Kalahari sand cover, hiding any buried mineralization.
The central portion of the newly approved Zambian licence package is highly prospective for copper mineralization hosted in Paleo-Proterozoic basement inliers buried below a blanket of Kalahari sands, containing sheared amphibolite-facies schists, granitic gneiss, and migmatite similar to Barrick’s Lumwana mine to the northeast, on the Mwombezhi Dome.
