Patriot Resources has bolted on another slice of highly prospective ground in the heart Zambia’s world class copper belt, acquiring a 90 per cent interest in a strategic licence. The tenement sits just 17 kilometres along strike from First Quantum Minerals’ soon-to-be producing Fishtie project which is expected to ramp up to a production rate of about 30,000 tonnes of copper a year by the end of the decade.
The company paid just US$50,000 (A$71,600) for its majority stake in the 16.15-square-kilometre licence, with US$20,000 (A$28,700) paid on signing and the balance due on completion. The vendor will be free-carried on the remaining 10 per cent interest.
The new ground, located 12km north of Mkushi, is believed to cover the south-western extension of the Lusale Basin mineralised corridor – a significant geological feature which forms part of a neighbourhood that has hosted some of the largest copper deposits in the world. The basin is considered a satellite of the revered Central African copper belt that straddles the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
For a junior explorer, securing ground with a geological address close to some of the world’s premier copper deposits represents a serious coup for this sub-$20m market cap company.
Patriot says the mineralisation style is hosted in a stratigraphic position that shares many similarities to what churned out Ivanhoe Mines’ colossal, 34 million tonnes of contained copper, Kamoa deposit in the DRC and the Lonshi deposit on the eastern flank of the Zambian Copperbelt.
Patriot’s new tenement sits within the Katanga Supergroup, an approximately 7km-thick sequence of rocks that hosts the majority of the region's prolific copper and cobalt deposits.
The acquisition complements the company's recent success at its Tonic prospect, within the Mumbwa project area also in Zambia. Maiden reverse circulation drilling at Tonic in early July confirmed notable copper-silver-zinc-cobalt mineralisation from surface.
One hole delivered a solid 17 metre hit at 0.41 per cent copper, 4.7 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and 0.30 per cent zinc from 29m. That interval included a higher-grade core of 7 metres grading 0.78 per cent copper, 5.1g/t silver and 0.38 per cent zinc from 30m.
Patriot says the Tonic system remains open at depth and along strike, with most of its defined induced polarisation, or “IP” footprint yet to feel the drill bit. The target corridor now steps out to the southeast from Tonic for a total distance of 5.5km. Importantly, the targets line up along the same northwest-southeast trending Mumbwa Fault Zone that hosts Sinomine Resource Group’s, 675,000 tonnes of contained copper, Kitumba deposit, a mere 18km from Tonic.
Notably, the nearby infrastructure angle adds further appeal to the address with The Kitumba development including a processing facility and copper smelter due for commissioning this year.
Whilst copper in Zambia is clearly a major focus, Patriot is also advancing its impressive Tassa silver-gold play in Peru, where a recent re-assay program has successfully validated historical grades ahead of a planned maiden drill campaign. The validation is a critical step, as Tassa already features a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 31.4 million silver-equivalent ounces grading a solid 52.68 grams per tonne silver equivalent.
The real blue sky was unveiled in May when Patriot blew out the project’s conceptual exploration target to a mammoth range of between 559 million and 774 million silver-equivalent ounces.
The addition of a Zambian copper play looks to have completed a trifecta of near-term activity priorities for Patriot. A phase-two drill campaign at its Tonic copper discovery, geophysics and mapping at its newly acquired licence in Zambia, and a maiden drill program to test the scale of its Tassa silver project in Peru now all loom large.
Additionally, Patriot continues its divestment strategy for its Gorman lithium project in Ontario, Canada, signalling a clear focus on its most promising assets in tier-one jurisdictions.
The company looks to have been to be picking up assets based on postcodes carefully. By securing ground with geological similarities to a world-beating deposit and located just down the road from a major player, Patriot has given itself a good chance of clocking a discovery. With drill rods set to turn in the coming months at Tassa and Tonic, and plenty of news flow to come, this ASX-junior is worth keeping an eye on.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Murray Ward
