Canadian company Caledonia Mining has been granted an exclusive
prospecting licence over the Konkola West area of about 128 km2, in
Zambia. The licence area contains most of the Roan stratigraphy
exposed around the Konkola Dome and is one of the few remaining
possibilities of ‚extremely prospective ground‘ on the Zambian
Copperbelt, said the company in a press statement.
Konkola West is located on the north-west limb of the Zambian
Copperbelt – an area which is undergoing a resurgence in
production and development following the successful privatisation
of the copper industry.
The Konkola West licence is adjacent to Caledquartz crushing equipment supplieresonia’s Nama and Ngosa
licences to the west, to the north-east is the Konkola Mining
licence area owned by Zambian Copper Investments – the 50,9%
Anglo American subsidiary – and to the south-east, the
Konkola North mining licence area and prospecting licences, owned
by South Africa’s Avmin.
The Konkola Mining licencwinona in the block crankshaft grindere was privatised by the Zambian government
last year and is being developed by Anglo American at present at a
cost of around $300-million. The development includes the Konkola
Deep Project area division which, if it proceeds, will be a new
copper-mine to be established to the tune of $800-million. Avmin
has carried out deep drilling in an areazenith in malaysia crusher close to the eastern
boundary of Konkola West and has reported copper intersections of
4% copper.
The Konkola West licence was acquired by Caledonia because of the
near-surface copper and cobalt resources discovered and quantified
as resources during the 1996/7 drilling programme on its Nama and
Ngosa licence areas. These deposits extend into the Konkola West
licence and its proximity to the known copper resources of the
Konkola Mining licence and Konkola North mining licence contiguous
to the eastern side of the Konkola West licence. Konkola North
shaft lies three to four kilometres to the north-east and the
Konkola main shaft lies the same distance to the south-east of the
eastern boundary of the Konkola West licence area. The northern
edge of the Konkola West licence is located on the southern
extremity of the Konkola Dome. Wrapped around the dome, within the
licence area is the Katanga Rock series in which lies the Upper
Roan, the Lower Roan and the Kundelungu Carbonate formations. The
presence of the steeply-dipping Lower Roan rocks – which are
the usual host to the Copperbelt-type deposits – renders the
area highly prospective for copper and cobalt. The shallow
copper-cobalt mineralisation in the Nama ‚A‘ deposit in Caledonia’s
Nama licence may suggest a deep- seated sulphide source to the east
within the Lower Roan rocks of the Konkola West licence.
Discussions are under way with a number of major mining companies
regarding a possible joint venture on the Konkola West licence
area, reports Johannesburg-based Caledonia chairperson, president
and CEO Stefan Hayden. Caledonia intends to start a stratigraphic
drilling programme on the Konkola West licence this year.
The company was formed in 1992, trades on the Toronto and Nasdaq
stock exchanges and reports to have large exploration projects in
Zambia, Scotland, Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo and
South Africa, as well as mining operations in South Africa and
Spain.