EM Survey commences on Kalahari Copper Belt tenure

RNS Number : 3151Z

Galileo Resources PLC

17 September 2020

 

For immediate release

17 September 2020

Galileo Resources Plc

("Galileo" or "the Company")

Dissemination of a regulatory announcement that contains

inside information according to Regulation (EU) number 596/2014 (MAR)

EM Survey commences over Highly Prospective Kalahari Copper Belt tenure

Galileo Resources plc ("Galileo "or the "Company") is, further to its announcement on 12 August 2020, pleased to announce that it has commenced a Helicopter-borne Electromagnetic Survey (EM) over two of its' highly prospective tenures within its 100% held Kalahari Copper Belt ("KCB") Project in western Botswana and expects to announce preliminary results by 31 October 2020.

Highlights

· Galileo has commenced the planned Helicopter-borne High Resolution Electromagnetic (EM) and Magnetic Survey over sections of PL40/2018 and PL39/2018 within its'   highly prospective Kalahari Copper Belt Project

· The survey is being completed using NRG's Xcite™ Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) system

· The Objective of the EM survey is to define the most prospective structural setting mineralisation within PL40/2018 and PL39/2018, as well as possibly directly detect any conductive mineralisation present. The juxtaposition of an isolated conductive anomaly and a dome feature in the EM data would represent a high priority target for drill testing.

· As announced on 12^th August, PL40/2018 and PL39/2018 are considered highly prospective because they are interpreted to have similar geological settings to Cupric Canyon Capital's Zone 5 and Zone 5N deposits, situated only 25 kilometres due west (which are a subset of a combined sulphide resource of 502Mt @ 1.4% Copper ("Cu") and 17g/t Silver ("Ag"), including 185Mt @ 2.0% Cu and 27g/t Ag)

· The southern portion of PL40/2018 is considered particularly prospective as this area is located within a WNW-ESE trending zone that contains five copper-silver deposits previously discovered in the KCB, including Plutus, Zeta, NE Zeta, Zone 5 Nth and Zone 5

· Again, as announced on 12^th August, PL40/2018 and PL39/2018 also lie along strike of Sandfire Resources T3 and A4 copper-silver deposits, as well as Cupric's Banana Zone and Eland Zone copper deposits, situated 140km to the southwest

· NRG's Xcite™ Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) system is understood to have been instrumental in the discovery of Sandfire Resources' (ASX:SFR) exciting, high-grade copper A4 Dome Prospect; where recent drilling has returned intercepts up to 18m at 5.2% Cu and 124g/t Ag from 77m down-hole

Colin Bird CEO said: "The whole region has become increasingly exciting due to new discoveries by Sandfire Resources and reinterpretation of geophysical work. Geophysical and geochemical anomalies and signatures have been the historical route for discovery and latest results from the region have confirmed the approach. Our initial activities will be two-fold in that we will investigate an area to the northeast which shows good geophysical potential and an area in the midst of a recent discovery. I have no doubt that time will see the Kalahari Copper Belt region emerging as a significant copper producer, since it already hosts two new world class deposits. We will keep shareholders abreast of our developments as they occur."

Geological Setting Interpretation and Technical Justification for PL40/2018 and PL39/2018

Background

The geological setting beneath the Kalahari overburden for the area covered by PL40/2018 and PL39/2018 has been interpreted from the regional aeromagnetic and EM data to have strong similarities with the synclinal geological setting that hosts Cupric Canyon Capital's ("Cupric") Zone 5 and Zone 5N deposits, situated only 25 kilometres due west. The Zone 5 and Zone 5N deposits are part of the world-class Khoemacau Copper-Silver Project with a combined sulphide resource of 502Mt @ 1.4% Cu and 17g/t Ag, including 185Mt @ 2.0% Cu and 27g/t Ag - refer to Cupric's website www.khoemacau.com for details. The Galileo licences also lie 140km along strike from Sandfire Resources' (ASX:SFR) Tshukudu Exploration Project that comprises the T3 Copper-Silver Project (60Mt @ 0.98% Cu & 13.6g/t Ag), where a feasibility study is currently in progress, and the recently discovered high-grade copper A4 Dome Prospect. 

The interpreted regional synclinal settings of Galileo's PL40/2018 and PL39/2018 and Cupric's Zone 5 and Zone 5N deposits are separated by a large-scale horst/anticlinal zone. The original basin bounding extension faults that are interpreted to be situated on the margins of the horst/anticline zone are believed to have been the conduits for metal-enriched, hydrothermal fluids. Typically, when these fluids reached D'kar Fm/Ngwako Pan Formation REDOX boundary, copper-silver sulphides are precipitated.

Update

It is also observed that the southern half of PL40/2018 is in a direct line from the Zone 5, Zone 5 Nth, NE Zeta, Zeta and Plutus copper-silver deposits.  The observation that these deposits are all in a WNW-ESE trending line perpendicular to the strike of the stratigraphic units in this area is interpreted to suggest that there may be an original extensional transfer/transform fault (vertical fault oriented sub-parallel to the direction of extension, separating individual segments of Graben and Horst extensional zones) connecting these ore deposits that was the key conduit for the metal-enriched hydrothermal fluids that resulted in the precipitation of the syn-extensional mineralisation (sedimentary copper style). Therefore, it is interpreted that the southernmost part of PL40/2018 is the most prospective and that exploration should be focussed in this area.

Helicopter-borne Electromagnetic and Magnetic Survey

Historically, the two main exploration tools that have been responsible for the discovery of all the copper-silver deposits throughout the KCB are soil sampling and electromagnetic (EM) surveys. EM surveys have mainly been utilised as an exploration tool for understanding the geological setting of the various KCB stratigraphic units under the Kalahari overburden. Modelling of the conductive response from the well-established Carbonaceous Marker Horizon allows for the relatively easy interpretation of the location and drill targeting of the prospective D'kar Fm/Ngwako Pan Formation contact at depth. However, in some instances where the copper mineralisation is predominantly composed of chalcopyrite, such as at T3 and A4 prospects, EM surveys have also been successful in directly detecting copper mineralisation.

Galileo's EM survey exploration program is aimed at defining the most prospective structural setting for sulphide accumulations within PL40/2018 and PL39/2018, as well as possibly directly detect geochemical signatures from soil surveys. The juxtaposition of a soil geochemical anomaly and a dome feature in the EM data represents the highest priority target for drill testing.

Project Background - Kalahari Copper Belt ('KCB')

The KCB, approximately 800km long by up to 250km wide, is a northeast-trending Meso- to Neoproterozoic belt that occurs discontinuously from western Namibia and stretches into northern Botswana along the northwestern edge of the Paleoproterozoic Kalahari Craton. The belt contains copper-silver mineralisation, which is generally stratabound and hosted in metasedimentary rocks of the D'Kar Formation near the contact with the underlying Ngwako Pan Formation. The hanging wall-footwall redox contact is a distinctive target horizon that consistently hosts copper-silver mineralization in fold-hinge settings. The geological setting is similar to that of the major Central African Copper Belt and Kupferschiefer in Poland.

In most of Botswana the KCB is covered by 2m to 60m of Tertiary age Kalahari Group sands. The sand cover impacts general surface geological mapping and geochemistry and most information is obtained from soil geochemistry, trenching and especially geophysical surveys and drilling.

Known deposits generally occur at the contact of the low and medium intensity magnetic features and are spatially associated with elongated, magnetic dome features. Magnetic domes represent volcanic basement rocks interpreted to be the source of copper mineralisation.

The KCB has been investigated by a number of companies over recent years, which has resulted in the discovery of several copper-silver prospects and deposits. Larger prospects have been identified by Cupric Canyon Capital and Sandfire Resources (previously MOD Resources). Cupric's Khoemacau-Boseto Project comprises several zones of copper-silver mineralisation over a 4km strike and extending to greater than 1,200m depth. A JORC-compliant sulphide resource has been established at a 1.0% Cu cut-off totalling 91.7Mt @ 2.13% Cu and 21.9g/t Ag. The mineralization comprises predominantly bornite, chalcocite, and chalcopyrite. Discovery's Boseto mine closed in 2015 and was purchased by Cupric to be amalgamated with that company's adjacent Khoemacau property. In total, the Khoemacau and Boseto assets combined are reported to have 500Mt of resources grading 1.4% Cu and 17g/t Ag. Cupric is currently planning development of an underground mine at the project and, in July 2019, announced signing of a US$650 million project funding package.

Sandfire's licences are located southwest of the Khoemacau Project in the central portion of the KCB. Their T3 deposit has previously reported Indicated and Inferred resources of 60.2Mt @ 0.98% Cu & 14g/t Ag and an optimised feasibility study is in progress. Recent drilling at their A4 Dome (Tshukudu) project returned intercepts up to 18m at 5.2% Cu and 124g/t Ag from 77m down-hole. The latest drilling has increased the known strike length of the vein-hosted mineralisation to over 700m, with the zone remaining open.

Technical Sign-Off

Technical information in this announcement has been reviewed by Edward (Ed) Slowey, BSc, PGeo, a consultant to Galileo. Mr Slowey is a graduate geologist with more than 40 years' relevant experience in mineral exploration and mining, a founder member of the Institute of Geologists of Ireland and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rules.  Mr Slowey has reviewed and approved this announcement.

You can also follow Galileo on Twitter: @GalileoResource

For further information, please contact: Galileo Resources PLC

Colin Bird, Chairman Edward Slowey, Executive Director	Tel [phone] Tel [phone]
Beaumont Cornish Limited - Nomad Roland Cornish/James Biddle	Tel [phone]
Novum Securities Limited - Joint Broker Colin Rowbury /Jon Belliss	[phone]
Shard Capital Partners LLP - J oint Broker Damon Heath	Tel [phone]

Technical Glossary

Syncline: typically, a downward fold where the youngest stratigraphic units are preserved towards the centre.

Anticline: typically, an upward fold where the oldest stratigraphic units are preserved towards the centre.

Horst: a raised fault block bounded by normal faults, resulting from extension (stretching) of the earth's crust.

Graben: a basin that lies between normal faults, usually bounded by Horst structures. Horst and graben structures are the result of tensional forces and crustal extension (stretching).

REDOX boundary: boundary between chemically reduced sediments (created in a low oxygen environment) and oxidised sediments.

 

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