Koryx Copper has started phase 2 drilling at the Haib project using two rigs.
The 8,200-meter follows the highly successful Phase 1 drill programme completed in the first half of 2024, which delivered some of the highest-grade copper and molybdenum intercepts in the project’s history.
The programme confirmed the higher-grade potential and significant size potential of the Haib deposit.
Phase 2 drilling intends to continue increasing the deposit’s average grade and provide enough closer-spaced data to allow for better modelling of the mineral resource.
The initial results are expected towards the end of November 2024, but the exact timing will depend on drilling rates and assay turn-around times.
Initially, the program aimed to improve quality by targeting additional higher grades.
Koryx Copper intends to significantly expand this drill program to target mineral resource growth and infill drilling as soon as the required workforce and infrastructure are in place.
The company has also initiated a Phase 2 metallurgical test work programme to determine the amenability of the Haib mineralised material to conventional milling and flotation.
This testwork seeks to determine the input parameters and key assumptions for the enhanced preliminary economic assessment.
The enhanced preliminary economic assessment aims to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of a conventional milling and flotation flowsheet.
The Phase 2 metallurgical test work programme has commenced with approximately 1,600 kg being treated at Maelgwyn Laboratory in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The programme will mainly test milling and flotation amenability, with initial results expected by the first quarter of 2025.
Koryx Copper is identifying potential technology providers and metallurgical facilities to assist with testing and flowsheet development.
The enhanced preliminary economic assessment will de-risk the metallurgical processing to produce a low-impurity, higher-grade concentrate.
This is in addition to further developing the bacterial heap-leaching flowsheet previously described in the currently published preliminary economic assessment.
The company will publish the enhanced preliminary economic assessment by the middle of 2025 and the pre-feasibility study towards the end of 2025.
All testwork and drilling activities are geared towards the fast-tracked delivery of the pre-feasibility study as soon as reasonably possible after the publication of the enhanced preliminary economic assessment.
