en.Wedoany.com Reported - Australian mining company Vantage Metals has commenced diamond drilling operations at the Kalahari Copper Project in Botswana.

This drilling campaign will run until October 2026, with plans to complete 5,000 to 10,000 meters of diamond drilling in the highly prospective northern zone of the license, where the rig is now in place. The Kalahari Copper Project covers approximately 3,900 square kilometers east and south of Maun, near MMG's Khoemacau mine, which has an annual copper production capacity of 50,000 tonnes. The operation of this producing mine underscores the project's potential to become a significant new production asset, and this drilling also supports Botswana's strategy to diversify its mining sector and expand copper output.

Vantage Metals CEO Will Dix expressed anticipation for working with Rots Drilling and its affiliate Major Drilling to maximize operational efficiency and rapidly identify copper-bearing sequences across the project.

This drilling campaign aims to test the extension of mineralization in the MMG operating area and trace the strike continuity of multiple deposits within the Khoemacau hub, including the high-grade Zone 5 resource, estimated at 167 million tonnes at 2.1% copper and 26 g/t silver. The project will also delineate the Ngwako Pan-D'Kar contact zone, a key geological boundary controlling copper mineralization in the Kalahari Copper Belt.

Drilling results will be integrated with enhanced airborne geophysical data to refine geological models, map the strike of the contact zone, and identify new copper targets.