BHP is teaming up with emerging metals explorer Cobre to explore new Tier 1 copper-silver deposits in Botswana.
The Big Australian is in talks for a earn-in joint venture over Cobre’s Kitlanya West and East copper projects, located on the northern and southern basin margins of the Kalahari copper belt.
The proposed transaction follows on from Cobre’s participation in the BHP Xplor program, which also provided funding for a recently completed seismic survey at the Kitlanya West project.
A partnership with BHP would provide the exploration scale and expertise to maximise Cobre’s chances of making significant new discoveries on its basin margin exploration ground while retaining 100 per cent ownership of its Ngami and Okavango copper projects, which are excluded from the potential deal.
Cobre chief executive officer Adam Wooldridge said the yet-to-be-confirmed deal underscores Cobre’s confidence in the potential for its projects to host Tier 1 copper-silver deposits.
“Successful negotiation and completion of this significant transaction with BHP, one of the world’s leading mining companies, will be a major moment in time for Cobre as a company,” Wooldridge said.
“Participating in the BHP 2024 Xplor cohort has provided the opportunity to do a belt scale review of the Kalahari copper belt, culminating with the collection of seismic data over the prospective northern margin of the belt.
“The proposed transaction with BHP would allow us to fully fund our follow-on exploration programs and focus on discovering the Tier 1 deposits we believe may be hosted in our Kitlanya West and East projects.”
Independently, Cobre will continue advancing its in-situ copper recovery development at Ngami – with a scoping study due in early October – along with further drilling at Okavango.
“This combined strategy provides exposure to potential Tier 1 discoveries, a development opportunity at Ngami and short-term discoveries on our Okavango project,” Wooldridge said.