Shuka Minerals Expands Kabwe Zinc Exploration After Successful Drilling at Speaks and Mine Club Zones
Shuka Minerals Intersects Zinc Mineralisation in Latest Kabwe Drilling Campaign in Zambia
Shuka Minerals has reported further progress from its exploration programme at the Kabwe zinc project in Zambia after successfully completing two additional drill holes targeting the previously unmined Speaks and Mine Club zones.
The Aim- and AltX-listed company said drill holes KBDD06 and KBDD07 were completed as part of an ongoing exploration campaign designed to test extensions of the Kabwe deposit and investigate mineralisation in areas that have historically remained underexplored.
The programme, carried out with geological consultants GeoQuest, is focused on identifying additional mineralised zones and improving the understanding of the geology and resource potential of the northern sections of the project.
KBDD06 was completed to a depth of 269 metres and represents the first exploration hole drilled into the northern part of the Speaks/Mine Club area.
The target zone forms part of the northern extension of the Kabwe deposit, an area that has not previously been developed.
The drill hole intersected massive to banded dolomite formations, which host the Kabwe mineralisation, with mineralised intervals identified between 55 metres and 91 metres downhole and between 160 metres and 193 metres.
KBDD07 was drilled to a depth of 173.1 metres and provided additional geological information from the northern section of the Speaks/Mine Club area.
The hole intersected three mineralised zones between 20 metres and 25 metres, 83 metres and 88 metres, and 140 metres and 142 metres downhole.
Shuka said the results confirm the continuation of zinc mineralisation in the northern part of the Kabwe project and provide further information about the structure and continuity of the orebody.
Initial X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis identified several zinc-bearing intervals. Results from KBDD06 included 8.33 metres grading 1.69% zinc from 55.66 metres, with a peak zinc reading of 11.24%.
The hole also returned 6 metres grading 4.57% zinc from 84.66 metres, including individual one-metre readings above 20% zinc, with a peak measurement of 22.8% zinc.
Additional intersections from KBDD06 included 4.33 metres grading 1.65% zinc from 160.33 metres and 5.33 metres grading 1.34% zinc from 187.33 metres.
Results from KBDD07 included 3.66 metres grading 1.08% zinc from 21.33 metres, 4.33 metres grading 1.12% zinc from 83.33 metres, and 1.33 metres grading 1.60% zinc from 140.33 metres.
Shuka said the XRF readings were generated using a calibrated instrument and will be subject to further laboratory verification and reporting in accordance with JORC and NI 43-101 standards.
The company highlighted the exploration potential of the Speaks and Mine Club areas, which form part of the wider Kabwe deposit.
A 2023 Behre Dolbear NI 43-101 technical report estimated that the Speaks orebody contains approximately 1.94 million tonnes of indicated and inferred resources grading 12% zinc and 2% lead.
The same report estimated the Mine Club orebody contains around 666,000 tonnes of indicated and inferred resources grading 11.7% zinc and 0.8% lead, with additional potential from silver and vanadium oxide mineralisation. Copper mineralisation has also been identified in northern areas of the project.
Shuka said mineralisation observed in the latest drilling appears to occur across multiple veins in the northern part of the deposit, approximately 1 kilometre from the main Pit 2 area.
Although the average grades from KBDD06 and KBDD07 were lower than some of the higher-grade intersections recorded earlier in the drilling campaign, the company said the confirmation of mineralisation and the presence of high-grade zones provide encouragement for continued exploration.
The drilling programme has now been extended to approximately 2,500 metres following encouraging results received to date.
Drill hole KBDD08 is currently underway and will focus on more central areas of the Speaks and Mine Club orebodies.
The exploration programme is being managed by the GeoQuest geological team, with Shuka CEO Richard Lloyd overseeing the initial phase of drilling.
The drilling contractor, Ox Drilling, has more than 20 years of operating experience in Zambia.
Lloyd said the northern areas of the Kabwe project remain less defined compared with the historically mined sections, making the current programme a true exploration effort aimed at understanding the extent of the mineralised system.
He added that the latest drill holes have provided valuable information about the behaviour of the orebody along strike and that further results will be released as drilling continues.
The ongoing exploration campaign forms part of Shuka Minerals’ strategy to unlock additional value from the historic Kabwe zinc project and assess the potential for future resource expansion in Zambia.
