African Pioneer Launches Drilling Plan for Namibia Copper Mine, Deploying Up to 4 Rigs

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 1, African Pioneer released an update on the development of the Ongombo-Ongeama copper project, stating that project planning work has commenced. The work is being advanced in accordance with the conditional final financing and technical services agreement signed between African Pioneer and Hong Kong Xin Hai Mining Services Co., Ltd. on July 30, with both parties currently formulating drilling, mine design, and ore processing plans for the Ongombo and Ongeama projects.

Under the current plan, subject to rig availability, the parties intend to deploy up to 4 diamond drill rigs for drilling at Ongombo and Ongeama respectively. The drilling data will be used for geotechnical studies, final underground and open-pit mine designs, and to update the existing JORC (2012) compliant mineral resource estimate at Ongombo. Ongombo currently hosts a resource of 29 million tonnes at a copper equivalent grade of 1.1%.

Drilling will commence once relevant regulatory requirements are fulfilled and the final drill hole locations and depths are confirmed by both parties. African Pioneer is recruiting technical personnel in Namibia to manage core handling and related technical work generated by up to 4 drill rigs. Drilling is expected to last several months, with final assay results still pending after drilling concludes. The parties are also simultaneously determining the final mine design and processing plant capacity range for Ongombo-Ongeama.

The agreement signed on July 30 has divided project development into four financing and engineering milestones. Phase 1 includes funding for a combined 7,000 metres of drilling at Ongombo and Ongeama; Phase 2 involves Xin Hai completing the detailed engineering design for Ongombo; Phase 3 includes transporting construction equipment to Walvis Bay, Namibia, and an additional 3,000 metres of drilling contingent on favourable initial drilling results at Ongeama.

Phase 4 corresponds to the commercial operation milestone at Ongombo, including the construction of a processing facility with an annual capacity of no less than 720,000 tonnes, achieving over 75% of design capacity for 30 consecutive days, and completing the initial development of the underground decline. African Pioneer previously estimated that approximately US$60 million would be required for the four development phases, with Xin Hai providing 100% funding for the agreed development milestones through secured loans at an annual interest rate of 10%.

As of September 1, the administrative procedures for the conditions precedent under the final agreement remain in progress. African Pioneer stated that a further update will be released once all relevant conditions are fulfilled; drilling is currently still in the planning and pre-condition implementation stage.