Cobre, busy developing its Kalahari Copper Belt play, wins the attention of Sandfire Resources

Cobre Limited (ASX:CBE) is teaming up with household name Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) to jointly fund the costs of a new airborne EM survey over the former’s Ngami project acreage, as Sandfire takes an interest in the Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB).

That process starts as soon as this month, with neither player wasting time before a busy 2023. 

Located in Botswana, the Ngami play has been of increasing interest to investors this year after Cobre’s geotechs began uploading photos of richly mineralised diamond cores with visibly green-blue deposits in-situ. 

Located atop geology forming the long-spanning KCB, the Ngami project is Cobre’s run at establishing itself as a new copper giant in Africa. 

Costs and benefits 

All in all, the new EM survey will cost $0.87m, for which both companies will pay $0.43m. 

For the trouble; Cobre will give to Sandfire its existing geodata attached to the project, in the former’s words, “for the purpose of studying the basin-scale geology of the KCB.” 

Whether or not the two will further team up down the line remains to be seen, but the first-step collaboration is noteworthy. 

Improves our understanding, too 

Sandfire will share its findings post-assessment of Cobre’s data, which very well may provide the latter with a new angle to drill. 

“This collaboration in exploration is extremely strategic, enabling both companies to gain access to shared data on the Kalahari Copper Belt in Botswana,” Cobre chief Adam Woolridge said. 

“Undertaking the survey jointly with Sandfire’s experienced exploration team will … [contribute] significantly to improved targeting and identification of potential analogues to Sandfire’s neighbouring T3 and A4 deposits.”

The state of Cobre's six month charts

Disclaimer: Market Index helps small-cap ASX listed companies connect with Australian investors through clear and concise articles on key developments. Cobre was a client at the time of publishing. All coverage contains factual information only and should not be interpreted as an opinion or financial advice.