en.Wedoany.com Reported - Shuka Minerals has completed its sixth and seventh exploration drill holes (numbered KBDD06 and KBDD07) in the Speaks and Mine Club areas of the Kabwe Zinc Mine in Zambia, areas that have not been previously mined. The mine is operated by Shuka Minerals, whose shares are listed on the AIM and AltX markets.

Shuka Minerals, in conjunction with geological consultant GeoQuest, planned these drill holes to intersect another previously unmined ore body in the Speaks and Mine Club areas. The expected depth of the drill holes ranges from 150 meters to 275 meters.

Drill hole KBDD06 reached an actual depth of 269 meters and is the first exploration drill hole into the northern part of the Speaks/Mine Club area. This area represents a northern extension of the old, unmined section of the Kabwe deposit. The drill hole passed through a massive to banded dolomite sequence, which is the host rock for Kabwe mineralization, intersecting mineralized veins at depths of 55 meters to 91 meters and 160 meters to 193 meters.

Drill hole KBDD07 reached a depth of 173.1 meters and represents further exploration of the northern Speaks/Mine Club area. This drill hole intersected three mineralized zones at depths of 20 meters to 25 meters, 83 meters to 88 meters, and 140 meters to 142 meters.

A 2023 Behre Dolbear National Instrument (NI) 43-101 report shows that the Speaks ore body contains 1.94 million tonnes of indicated and inferred resources, with a zinc grade of 12% and a lead grade of 2%. The Mine Club ore body contains 666,000 tonnes of indicated and inferred resources, with a zinc grade of 11.7% and a lead grade of 0.8%, along with silver and vanadium oxide. Copper mineralization has also been reported in the northern area.

Specific assay results show: For KBDD06, from 55.66 meters to 63.99 meters, an 8.33-meter section with a zinc grade of 1.69%, recording a peak zinc reading of 11.24%; from 84.66 meters to 90.66 meters, a 6-meter section with a zinc grade of 4.57%, with peak zinc readings of 21.05%, 20.84%, and 22.8% on a 1-meter core; from 160.33 meters to 164.66 meters, a 4.33-meter section with a zinc grade of 1.65%, with spot readings ranging from less than 1% to 4.96% zinc; from 187.33 meters to 192.66 meters, a 5.33-meter section with a zinc grade of 1.34%, with spot readings in this interval ranging from less than 1% to 3.02% zinc.

For KBDD07, assay results show: from 21.33 meters to 24.99 meters, a 3.66-meter section with a zinc grade of 1.08%, with spot readings ranging from less than 1% to 1.7% zinc; from 83.33 meters to 87.66 meters, a 4.33-meter section with a zinc grade of 1.12%, with spot readings ranging from less than 1% to 4.15% zinc; from 140.33 meters to 141.66 meters, a 1.33-meter section with a zinc grade of 1.6%, with spot readings ranging from 1.22% to 2.53% zinc.

Shuka Minerals explained that these assays were conducted using a calibrated X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument and will be subsequently verified through laboratory analysis compliant with the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) and NI 43-101 standards. The company stated that mineralization in the northern area can be clearly observed in numerous veins, approximately 1 kilometer from the main Pit 2 area.

Although the average grades of KBDD06 and KBDD07 are lower than the exceptionally high grades encountered so far in the current drilling campaign, Shuka Minerals noted that high-grade intervals and mineralization are prevalent in these drill holes, showing positive signs. These drill holes were designed to target the northern ends of the previously underexplored Mine Speaks and Club ore bodies. Drill hole KBDD08 is already underway and will be more focused on the central positions of these ore bodies.

Shuka Minerals stated that the GeoQuest geological team and the company's CEO, Richard Lloyd, are on site. Lloyd is overseeing the initial phase of drilling, which has now been extended to 2,500 meters in length due to the excellent results achieved so far. The drilling work is being carried out by contractor Ox Drilling, which has 21 years of established operational experience in Zambia. The company will provide further progress updates as drilling advances.

Lloyd said: "The northern area of the Kabwe project is less defined, so the plan here is more like a true exploration drilling program. We have again encountered mineralization in the first drill holes and have proven the northern extension of the ore body. These exploration drill holes are giving us more information about the ore body and its behavior along strike. We are now returning to drill more central positions of this northern ore body and will provide further drilling updates in the near future."