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MINING |Arc Minerals
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ARC MINERALS An exciting copper play in the heart of Zambia’s Copperbelt
Runner-up in the 2020 Mining Indaba Investment Battlefield
MINING |Arc Minerals
The divestment of gold assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Slovakia by Arc Minerals in November 2019 was the result of a three-year clean-up process led by the exploration firm’s now chairman Nick von Schirnding. When von Schirnding arrived as a nonexecutive director in February 2017, the company found itself in a quandary relating to the perceived value of its investments across the portfolio. The vastly experienced mining executive wasted little time in replacing the board of directors and went about revamping the company’s strategy to concentrate more on the African assets. The fresh impetus in the company was also reflected in a rebrand from Ortac Resources to Arc Minerals in early 2018. Fast forward to 2020 and Arc is solely focused on the Zamsort Copper-Cobalt Project in Zambia following the sales of Casa Gold in the DRC and the Šturec project in Slovakia.
In total the Zamsort/Zaco licence areas
London-listed Arc holds a 66% interest in the
where drilling has intersected pervasive
Zamsort project and a 52.5% stake in Zaco,
mineralisation with grades up to 13.34%
located in the Western Domes Region of the
copper. Elsewhere, the company has rigs
Zambian Copperbelt, in close proximity to
turning at two other anomalies which have
three world-class mines.
also demonstrated mineralisation.
cover 872 km² and includes the Kalaba copper-cobalt project. Arc’s local partner in Zambia is Kopara who have co-funded the development of Zamsort and Zaco. “Raj and Mahesh Patel (who own Kopara), have been excellent partners. We are very close,” says von Schirnding. The first drilling commenced with a 11,000 metres drilling programme to delineate a maiden copper and cobalt mineral resource at Kalaba and the company is also constructing a commercial scale demonstration plant at Kalaba to produce copper and cobalt cake. Results so far have been extremely encouraging, particularly at a few anomalies which have graded 18 metres at 2.35% copper, including 7.6 metres at 4.15% and 28.5 metres at 1.32% copper, including 13 metres grading at 2.32%. “We have 13 large and well-defined targets that we’ve identified. We’ve also done a lot of comprehensive geophysics and soil sampling across around 850 km² of the licence areas,” says von Schirnding. Of the targets identified, Cheyeza East is generating the most excitement
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MINING |Arc Minerals
However, the bigger question for Arc at the
of Anglo’s top 30 Zambian copper exploration
moment is whether these anomalies are part
targets for the area. While this is by no
of a wider system of mineralisation within the
means a definite indication of a coherent
company’s licences in the Domes region of
mineralised structure, it does show the
the Zambian Copperbelt.
quality of Arc’s targets across the licence
In the right postcode
area.
“If you look at our neighbours, First Quantum
The plan is to continue drilling at several
Minerals and now Barrick Gold, and their
target areas across the licence areas in 2020
three key operations in the region, they
once the rainy season clears in late March,
contains millions of tonnes of copper
giving Arc time to assess the results from the
resources and if ‘nearology’ is anything to
drilling campaigns of 2019.
go by we may have something potentially similar.”
Targets include a further 4,000 metres at Cheyeza East and 2,000 metres for each of
In addition, Zamsort has historically been
Fwiji, Muswema, Lumbeta and Jatuma, along
explored by Anglo American and hosts nine
with 2,000 metres at a new target called West Lunga.
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Arc and Kopara will continue to use a local
the company has solidified its relationship
drilling partner called Baba Drilling for its
with Chief Sailunga of the Lunda people in
upcoming campaigns and has also used a
Mwinilunga district. In fact, von Schirnding
Zambian assayer called SGS, in a show of
and his team make every effort to meet the
commitment to the host country.
chief whenever they are on site.
“We are doing a new 10,000 metres drill
Arc is also aiming to make a long-term
programme and we’ve already put millions
impact on the region by supporting various
of dollars into the ground, integrated local
infrastructure projects. For example, the
jobs through drilling and financed a charity
company upgraded a key public road that
in the Mwinilunga area. We like to commit
had fallen into disrepair. This work will not
ourselves wholly to where we operate,” says
only improve access to the mine but also
von Schirnding.
provided a knock-on benefit for the local
Embracing the host country
communities. While this kind of CSR initiative is an integral
Employing locally has been a key part of Arc’s
part of any mining company’s licence to
strategy at the Kalaba project and in doing so
operate in Africa, Arc feels more than
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MINING |Arc Minerals
“We have 13 large and well-defined targets that we’ve identified. We’ve also done a lot of comprehensive geophysics and soil sampling across around 850 km² of the licence area” Nick von Schirnding, Arc Minerals chairman happy to play its part in the socio-economic
Development,” he says. “Zambia also has
development of the local community
a first-rate legal system which is of great
considering how comfortable it feels
comfort to us - It certainly helps me sleep
operating in Zambia.
better at night!”
Despite some grumblings of discontent
Closer to home at their small London
from other players in the Zambian mining
office, Arc is also sponsoring the Zambian
industry after the government implemented
High Commission involving two projects.
a 1.5 percentage-point increase in minerals royalty taxes (plus a new 10% tax when the
Copper fundamentals
price of copper exceeds US$7,500 per tonne)
Looking at the global copper market,
in September 2018, von Schirnding remains
2019 was another year of price weakness
confident about Arc’s prospects in Zambia.
for the bellwether metal, driven by the ongoing US-China trade war. However,
“First and foremost, we have good relations
Arc views this price weakness as short-
on the ground, going from local chiefs to
term considering the projected supply and
regional government bodies all the way to
demand dynamics for the industrial metal.
the Zambian Ministry of Mines and Mineral
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MINING |Arc Minerals Copper demand is set to soar over the next decade in line with the ongoing electrification of the global energy and transport sectors, while supply has been projected to decrease as new major copper discoveries become a rarity. With this in mind, Arc believes that copper will recover to its previous price level in the medium term. These solid fundamentals for copper producers only serve to underline the potential attractiveness of Arc’s licences to potential partners. The company has only drilled three anomalies to date in a small section of the Zamsort/Zaco licence areas. Therefore, the potential for an exciting copper play, of a similar scale to neighbouring multi-million ounce mines operated by First Quantum and Barrick, is there for all interested parties to see. “We’ve got NDAs with four major mining companies to see if they want to join us in exploring key targets across Zamsort and Zaco. That is very exciting as we are beginning to get noticed on a global horizon. We’ve already received a lot of interest from the majors so watch this space,” concludes von Schirnding.
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Published by Anderson Murray Media Ltd
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