Exploration
Exploration provides the critical 'pipeline' of projects . . .
Zambia
Zambia has been a commercial copper producing country for over 80 years achieving peak output of 720,000 tonnes per year of copper in the early 1970's, however following a steady decline during the years of nationalization of the industry, production reached a low in the early 1990's of 250,000 tonnes per year.
The resurgence of mining investment following divestiture of the former national mining company, ZCCM in the mid-1990's and the introduction of a tax regime to encourage foreign direct investment in the copper industry created a significant recovery in national copper production, exports and tax revenue.
The Zambian Copperbelt remains one of the world's great copper provinces. With limited copper exploration since the 1970's and with 40% of the country still to be geologically mapped, Zambia hosts outstanding exploration opportunity. Equinox has applied modern exploration technology and concepts to leverage its opportunity.
Lumwana Exploration
Throughout 2008, Equinox maintained an accelerated exploration effort in parallel with Lumwana development to generate a suite of exploration projects.
Equinox has identified numerous targets at Lumwana including:
- The Kanga prospect, located south of the Malundwe pit at Lumwana where mining has commenced. Continued drilling throughout 2008 in the Kanga area completed 55 reverse circulation holes and 10 diamond holes for an aggregate project meterage of 18,100 meters and has shown that it is a southerly extension of the Malundwe deposit, extending for at least 1 kilometre south of the Malundwe pit.
- Drilling along the western flank of the Malundwe deposit has intersected significant copper mineralization of up to 10m thick at ~1% copper outside the current pit design;
- The Kababisa prospect northeast of the Malundwe deposit has been reconnaissance drilled by 34 reverse circulation holes and two diamond drill holes on lines 200 meters apart along a strike length of 1000 meters. Copper mineralization was successfully intersected along the entire strike length, over thicknesses of 6 meters to 14 meters. Holes of note at this prospect are LUM501, 6 meters at 1.15% copper from 18 meters (oxide) and LUM504, 6 meters at 0.89% copper from 62 meters (sulphide).
Equinox considers Kanga, Chimiwungo North and the other ‘near mine’ targets as showing significant potential to develop into resources which could be exploited during the Lumwana mine life.
Equinox holds extensive exploration permits in Zambia, around the Copperbelt (one of the world’s most significant copper producing regions), to the east around Kasanka, to the northwest surrounding the Lumwana Mining License and in the Kabompo region further to the northwest. Expansion of the exploration teams throughout 2008 has enabled a marked increase in on-ground reconnaissance work at targets previously identified from remotely sensed data in 2007, and this will form the basis of work into 2009.
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