en.Wedoany.com Reported - Chilwa Minerals has expanded its hand-panning exploration at the Mpyupyu West heavy mineral sands (HMS) discovery in Malawi to the southern and southeastern areas of Mpyupyu Hill.
Mineralization continuity has been confirmed and is believed to be extending toward the company's Mpyupyu Dune and Flat deposits. The target area now covers approximately 17 square kilometers, more than triple the roughly 5 square kilometers initially mapped in early June, and has surpassed the combined area of the aforementioned two deposits.
On June 19, Chilwa Minerals reported that its Mpyupyu mineral resource had more than doubled to 109.6 million tonnes, making it the company's largest HMS deposit and its first potential development frontier. The company stated that no mining decision has been made, and any development at Mpyupyu would still require completion of a scoping study as well as further technical, economic, financing, and regulatory assessments.
Currently, the company operates two sonic drill rigs. One has resumed drilling at the Mpyupyu West target after the rainy season in Malawi, while the other is working at the Bimbi Southwest prospect. Meanwhile, near-surface reconnaissance and sampling continue on the southern and southeastern flanks of Mpyupyu Hill to define the target area and inform the Mpyupyu West drilling program.
Chilwa Minerals Managing Director Cadell Buss stated that the expansion of Mpyupyu West is a significant achievement. Since the discovery was announced, the field team has extended hand-panning exploration to the southern and southeastern parts of Mpyupyu Hill, consistently recovering visible heavy minerals. He noted that mineralization is trending toward the Mpyupyu Dune and Flat deposits, increasing the possibility that they may belong to a single continuous system. Buss emphasized that the timing is ideal, as the company has just increased the Mpyupyu resource to more than double its previous size, with nearly 90% of the resource now in the measured and indicated categories, including a high-grade core with 50.6 million tonnes of ore at a total heavy mineral content of 4.65%.
Buss pointed out that the potential physical connection between Mpyupyu West and the upgraded resource is precisely the low-cost organic growth the company is testing. He added that Mpyupyu West surrounds the company's Nakombe niobium/rare earth element discovery, and this proximity is strategically significant. If HMS mining at Mpyupyu precedes Nakombe, the access roads, power, water, camp, and logistics infrastructure built for the mineral sands operation could directly support future niobium development at Nakombe, thereby reducing capital and time risks for a second critical mineral project on the same continuous license. He concluded that with drilling underway at Mpyupyu West and the upgraded Mpyupyu resource, Chilwa Minerals continues to strengthen its position as a multi-commodity critical minerals company operating on the same continuous license.
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