The government of the Republic of Zambia has granted Diamond Fields International Ltd.’s application for renewal of its large-scale prospecting licence, PLLS 311, with respect to copper, gold silver, lead and germanium in the Solwezi district of North-Western province, Zambia.
The licence covers an area of more than 444 square kilometres.
The company has completed regional exploration of the licence. From a review of published core drilling data undertaken by Gecamines, the company has been able to establish the continuation of the Kipushi ore body into the Republic of Zambia over a minimum strike distance of 180 metres traversing the international border at a depth of approximately 1,000 metres below ground level. A total of 67l holes have been drilled underground by Gecamines along the 1,132-metre-strike-length drill adit following the southwesterly strike of the Kipushi orebody in the Republic of Zambia. These are dispersed in 12 drill fans, drilled at 15-metre intervals subperpendicular into the strike of the orebody, which plunges steeply to the northwest. The Gecamines drill data for the Zambian extension to the Kipushi orebody have been modelled using polygonal resource estimates between the 1,200-metre-strike-length and 1,570-metre-strike-length levels. At least two sphaleritic palaeokarst are contained within the 1,200-metre-strike-length to 1,570-metre-strike-length level on the Zambian side of the border. A third sphalerlitic palaeokarst is partially intersected by the international border. Mineralization is open to the southwest on the Zambian side of the border. The company has not independently verified the Gecamines drill data at this stage and is thus conservatively treating any resource estimates as indicated.
Two other areas including the Katwishi anomaly, a defined copper-zinc target approximately 1,200 metres to the northwest of Kipushi, and a zone of cupriferous gossans developed near the village of Yowela in the centre of the licence, were extensively sampled and have been evaluated. The Katwishi anomaly was previously drilled by American Mineral Fields to a depth of 256 metres. Although no economic mineralization was intersected, statistically significant levels of copper and zinc mineralization were encountered. A review of the kinematics of the genesis of the Katwishi anomaly undertaken by the company suggests that lateral as opposed to vertical propagation was dominant during the early stages of formation, and that the Katwishi anomaly may contain economic mineralization at depth.
Sampling of the Yowela prospect undertaken by the company indicates a relatively large anomalous zone of base-metal mineralization covering an approximate area of approximately 15 square kilometres. The superficial mineralization is in the form of base-metal oxides, indicating meteoric ground water leaching of a source(s) at depth. The mineralization at Yowela does not appear to be associated with late-stage faulting and fluid migration as typified by both the Kipushi orebody and the Katwishi anomaly, but additional work is necessary to better understand the geology.
The geological and technical information in this news release has been compiled and reviewed by I. Ransome, BSc (Hons.) in geology, UBO, PriSciNat. Mr. Ransome is the chief geologist for Diamond Fields. He is a registered geological scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) and is thus a qualified person under NI 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
