The market is yet to wake up to Noronex and its South32-backed copper search in Namibia.
Kristie Batten. September 26, 2024
The Kalahari Copper Belt, spanning the mining friendly nations of Botswana and Namibia, is considered one of the world’s emerging areas for the discovery of sedimentary-hosted deposits.Just 15 years ago, the region had no published resources. Today, the endowment stands at around 8 million tonnes of copper.Copper production has increased from zero just five years ago to 90,000 tonnes per annum today – and growing.
ASX 100 producer Sandfire Resources’ Motheo copper mine on the Botswana side of the belt had a seamless start-up and ramp-up, producing 44,700t of copper equivalent in the 2024 financial year, 6.4% above guidance.Motheo went from first drill hole to first copper sales in just seven years.The global average for discovery to production is now more than 16 years for copper mines, according to S&P Global Intelligence.
Production at Motheo is expected to rise to 59,000t of CuEq this financial year, its first year of steady state operations, and increase further in FY26 once the A4 deposit is brought into production.
Earlier this year, Melbourne-based, China-backed base metal miner MMG paid US$1.9 billion for the Khoemacau copper mine in Botswana.Khoemacau is operating at a production rate of 40,000-50,000t per annum of copper but studies are underway to increase that to 130,000t of copper and 5 million ounces of silver per annum.
Junior Noronex moved into the Kalahari Copper Belt in 2020 and now holds 8500 square kilometres of ground on the even less explored Namibian side.
Noronex chief geologist Bruce Hooper and non-executive director Robert Klug were both at Sandfire when the company acquired MOD Resources, the discoverer of Motheo. Hooper was chief exploration and business development officer while Klug was chief commercial officer.The company has already had some exploration success at Witvlei, defining a resource of 10 million tonnes at 1.3%, similar to Sandfire’s A4 deposit, which has a resource of 10Mt at 1.4% copper and 21 grams per tonne silver.
In July, Noronex’s efforts in the belt got a huge boost when it signed an earn-in agreement with diversified major South32.
South32 has committed to spend A$15 million on exploration at the Humpback-Damara project over five years – an amount that is double Noronex’s current market capitalisation.South32 must spend a minimum of A$3 million before it can withdraw.Noronex’s experienced technical team will manage the work programs and receive a 7.5% operator fee.
If South32 spends the full A$15 million, it will have a right to subscribe for a 60% stake in the project.South32 has already provided A$750,000 of funding for work in the current quarter, which included a gravity survey which kicked off in August.The partners will test basement margins, similar to what is seen in the Central African Copperbelt to the north, which hosts major deposits including Barrick Gold’s Lumwana and Ivanhoe Mines’ Kamoa-Kakula.
The known copper deposits in the Kalahari Copper Belt are all located close to basement contacts.Drilling is planned to start shortly at Fiesta and the Damara Zone.Historical drilling at Fiesta has intersected 45m at 1% CuEq from 144m, 9m at 2.5% CuEq from 224m, 8m at 3.1% CuEq from 127m and 31m at 1.2% CuEq from 154m.The Damara Zone, which sits on the northern margin of the Kalahari Copper Belt, has never been drill tested.
In addition to the earn-in, South32 and Noronex have also entered a strategic alliance to source additional copper and base metals projects across Namibia. Noronex will generate early-stage opportunities, aided by funding of A$200,000 per year from South32, and can then offer the opportunity exclusively to South32 on agreed terms and conditions.
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