Trigon Metals says its underground drilling programme at Shaft 1 of the Kombat Mine has intersected high-grade copper and silver mineralisation at both levels 3 and 5.
Level 3, hole KWO-217, intersected 5 metres at 11.21% copper and 117.89 g/t silver, while KWO-218 recorded 8 metres at 2.55% copper and 18.65 g/t silver. At level 5, hole KWO-194 intercepted 2 metres at 4.36% copper and 22.27 g/t silver.
“Even with 45 years of mining history at Kombat, the deposit continues to surprise us with new high-grade ore — even adjacent to old developments. There is tremendous value in this mine yet to be realised in our market capitalisation,” said Trigon Metals CEO and Executive Chairman Jed Richardson.
The company said the results underscore the potential for higher-grade copper as drilling progresses at greater depths.
The discovery highlights the potential for near-term mining as the company focuses on ramping up underground operations.
“We are very excited about the grade we are intersecting in these holes as we forecast that the grade increases with depth, and these results are the confirmation of the prediction. Higher grade, together with the current high copper price make us very confident of a great future for the mine,” said Trigon’s VP of Exploration Andreas Rompel.
This comes as the company reached a significant milestone, mining an average of 980 tonnes of ore per day from its underground operations over a 30-day period in September and announced that it would halt its open-pit operations at the Kombat mine by the end of September 2024.
The company also secured a N$46 million (US$2.5 million) working capital advance for the mine in Namibia from IXM S.A., the mine’s off-taker in July which will be provided in two tranches of N$22 million (US$1.25 million) each.
Trigon is a publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core business focused on copper and silver holdings in African jurisdictions.
Currently, the company has operations in Namibia and Morocco. In Namibia, the company holds an 80% interest in five mining licences in the Otavi Mountainlands, where it is focused on exploration and re-development of the previously producing Kombat Mine.
