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MINING | Tanga Resources
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TAN G A MELBANA ENERGY RE SO U RCES
Unlocking reserves in Cuba’s underexplored offshore oil basins On the road towards base and precious metals exploration in Namibia
MINING | Tanga Resources
In 2018, ASX-listed Tanga Resources decided to shift its focus from gold exploration in Tanzania to precious and base metals in a new African jurisdiction – Namibia. Tanga initially acquired the Joumbira Zinc Project and followed it up with the Hagenhof CopperCobalt Project in August 2018. Chief executive Matthew Bowles explains that part of the reason for the move into Namibia was in response to the recent changes to the Tanzanian mining code. “From our perspective, this had a fairly significant impact on investor sentiment into the country, and when you are a junior explorer it impacts you even more so,” he says. Most recently, Tanga has expanded its relationship with Namibia’s state-run Epangelo Mining, further cementing the company’s position in this attractive jurisdiction.
All of these attributes are factored into the
When searching for a new host country,
projects all within the highly prospective
Tanga saw in Namibia significant exploration
Damara Orogenic Belt – a highly mineralised
potential, an established mining industry
geological formation running through
with a long history of metal production,
Namibia.
excellent infrastructure in place and a
Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of Mining Companies, which consistently ranks the Southwest African country highly in terms of being an attractive destination for mining and investment. For instance, in its latest report Fraser ranked Namibia as the fourth highest African jurisdiction for mining and investment and the 61st highest in the world – which is no mean feat for a sparsely populated country of 2.6 million. “For us, it was about moving to a stable jurisdiction, with significant geological upside, that was open for business from a mining and exploration point of view. A number of major mining companies are already operating in country, including B2Gold, Rio Tinto and Vedanta Zinc. “On top of that, there is excellent infrastructure in Namibia, which is probably some of the best in Africa, and that has really helped us to decide where we want to be.” Tanga has been in Namibia for almost 12 months and has spent much of this time on the ground reviewing several regions and
friendly attitude towards exploration and
Epangelo Mining JV
development.
The company began its ascent into Namibia by partnering with the government for the
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MINING | Tanga Resources exploration and development of the Joumbira Tanga conducted a small diamond drill Project, via an earn-in agreement with
campaign in May last year which confirmed
Epangelo. The project offers potential for a
the existence of high grade zinc, lead and
large high grade zinc-lead-silver orebody over
silver mineralisation zones within a much
a vastly underexplored licence covering 210
larger lower grade mineralised zone.
km². Most notably, zinc mineralisation of up Tanga’s relationship with Epangelo has
to 15% was intersected, within a broader
further blossomed since the initial alliance
+40 metres zone of moderate grade in
was formed at Joumbira. In February
the final three holes of the campaign, and
2019, the company signed another earn-in
mineralisation remains open in all directions,
agreement with Epangelo to further increase
which provides significant resource potential.
its ground position in Namibia to over 1,700 km².
The Hagenhof Project Despite the initial exploration results of the
“Our strategy has always been to expand
Joumbira project, Tanga has since refocused
our presence and build a new footprint in
its near-term priorities on the Hagenhof
Namibia and our relationship with Epangelo
Copper Project after the outright acquisition
has supported us in doing this,” reveals
of 100% interest in the 197 km² licence in
Bowles.
August last year.
“We get on really well with the Epangelo
Once again, the company is utilising
team. They like that we are exploring
geological reports on the licence from the
in-country and we share with them our
1970s to guide its initial exploration targeting
technical ideas, and they will provide some of
at the project. Historical drilling undertaken
their input and thoughts on our exploration.
by Phelps Dodge in 1972 returned results of 18 metres @ 0.9% copper from 93 metres,
“It’s a very good relationship on both sides
including 12 metres @ 1.08% copper from 96
and we are looking forward to making a
metres, including 3 metres @ 2.37% copper
discovery in the future that will be of benefit
from 96 metres and 24 metres @ 0.88%
to all stakeholders.”
copper from 74 metres.
Returning to Joumbira, the project was first
This historical data has confirmed copper
drilled in the 1970s with some fairly advanced and cobalt mineralisation at Hagenhof, but and interesting results emerging from the
Bowles reveals that the area has never been
campaigns, according to Bowles. “We will
assayed for gold.
look to repeat some of those results as we advance the project.”
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“It was about moving to a stable jurisdiction, with significant geological upside, that was open for business from a mining and exploration point of view.� Matthew Bowles, chief executive Tanga Resources
MINING | Tanga Resources
ResourceGlobal GlobalNetwork Network Resource “That is quite exciting for us and when we undertake the drilling at Hagenhof, we are going to be assaying for a multi-commodity analysis, so we hope there might be gold in the system as well.” Tanga will conduct a 1,200 metres RC drilling programme before the end of H1 2019, with the ultimate goal to confirm some of the historical results and test the potential scale at Hagenhof. “The main gossan at Hagenhof outcrops for over 400 metres and from the historical drilling we know the mineralisation plunges to the Southwest, so this drill programme is initially to confirm those historical results
Capital Drilling, a leading provider of exploration and production drilling services, are proud to partner with Tanga Resources to deliver their drilling projects in Tanzania.
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and also to test the depth and plunge of that mineralisation,” says the chief executive.
“We are now looking to expand and build our team around him and have already got
Tanga recently announced the appointment
two other Namibian exploration geologists
of vastly experienced Namibian geologist
working with Wynand. It’s important for us to
Wynand Slabbert as the company’s
use the local resources.”
exploration and country manager, a move which Bowles thinks is critical for Tanga’s
The situation in Tanzania
ongoing growth strategy in Namibia.
The Tanga management team is also closely monitoring developments in the Tanzanian
“When you have overseas projects, you want
mining industry in relation to the Hanang
to build a team that is based in-country.
Gold Project – the company’s original
Wynand’s appointment is vital for Tanga, as
exploration project before it expanded into
we look to build our presence in Namibia
Namibia.
from a management position. Located in a highly prospective region of the “Wynand is an exceptional geologist with 10-
Archaean Greenstone Belt, Tanga owns 400
15 years of experience working as a senior
km² of prospecting licences for the project,
geologist for AngloGold Ashanti in Africa, at
which possesses over 50 km of potential
Navachab Gold Mine in Namibia and Siguiri
strike along a major mineralised corridor,
Gold Mine in Guinea.
with multiple high priority targets.
MINING | Tanga Resources
However, Tanzania’s mining sector has
and Tanga is adopting a ‘watch and wait’
fallen into a state of inertia over the last two
approach so that it can see with greater
years, after a material change to the Mining
clarity when deciding how to operate in the
Code, while a dispute continues between the
future.
government and Acacia Mining, in relation to the latter allegedly under-declaring export
“A lot of the circumstances arose because
revenues.
of the issues between the Tanzanian government and Acacia Mining. We are
Tanzania has since increased its royalties on
waiting to see how they are resolved before
mineral exports including gold and uranium,
we look to revisit and crank up exploration
and project participation interest, which
again in-country,” explains Bowles.
has served to negatively impact investor sentiment into the mining sector.
Building a footprint in Namibia
Nonetheless, resolution negotiations
Since pivoting away from Tanzania, Tanga has
between the government and Acacia’s parent
applied a strategic approach to building its
company Barrick Gold are progressing
presence in Namibia on the back of several
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geological assessments and an evolving
Despite adopting a new multi-commodity
relationship with the state mining investment
focus through the Namibian projects,
company Epangelo.
Bowles is hopeful that the company can still demonstrate its trademark expertise in the
“Having Epangelo as a JV partner is a
field of gold exploration.
complementary move for us and a great endorsement of our company when you
“While we are primarily chasing copper at
consider that we already have two farm-in
Hagenhof, there are some gold signatures
agreements with them. I believe we have built there too. We’ve got some pretty exciting the foundations of a very strong precious and
copper targets at Hagenhof, but we are
base metals company in Namibia.”
certainly not overlooking the gold potential in the region as well,” concludes Bowles.
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Published by Anderson Murray Media Ltd
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