Midas Minerals has signed an option agreement with Chorab Minerals and licensee Hans Hain Haraseb to acquire up to 80% of EPL 8374, Otavi South Copper Project, near Otavi in the Otjozondjupa region.
The Otavi South Copper Project is near Midas Minerals’ other recent acquisition, the Otavi Project, and is 25km north of the Otjikoto gold mine.
The project defined significant untested gold and copper anomalies.
Midas Minerals will pay Chorab US$20,000 in cash in consideration of a 12-month exclusive option to conduct exploration and acquire up to 80% of the EPL.
If Midas Minerals extends the option by 12 months, it will pay another US$40,000.
Midas Minerals may elect to exercise the option and earn a 60% legal and beneficial interest in the EPL at any time before expiry of the option by paying US$40,000 in cash.
Following the initial earn in and within 10 days of an ASX announcement of the completion of a feasibility study, Midas Minerals may elect to increase its legal and beneficial interest from 60% to 80% of the EPL by paying a cash amount of 20% of the fair market value of the EPL, as determined by an independent market valuation.
Kennecott Explorations (South West Africa) (Pty) Ltd mapped the Otavi South Copper Project and sampled soils between 1967 and 1969.
In 1971, K.R.C Resources S.A (Pty) Ltd undertook soil sampling and trenching on the Deutsche Erde copper prospect.
Avdale Namibia (Pty) Ltd (Anglovaal Mining Ltd) undertook airborne and ground magnetics, IP, and ground EM between 1997 and 2000 as part of a larger district-scale tenement holding.
In 1998, Avdale discovered the Otjikoto gold deposit, 25km to the south, under 10-15m of calcrete cover while testing additional geophysical anomalies.
However, it was not until 2003 that significant drilling of Otjikoto commenced after the global gold price started to recover.
Midas Minerals completed four traverses totalling 17.3km of soil sampling along farm access tracks, resulting in 221 samples at ~80m intervals as part of its due diligence in 2025.
The company discovered copper and lead anomalism at Deutsche Erde, generally consistent with historical work, and weakly anomalous gold, arsenic, lead, and copper along the Avdale RAB gold anomaly strike, extending the target area to an open 6km strike.
Midas Minerals has commenced trenching to locate in situ copper mineralisation along a 10km contact zone of the prospective Nosib and Otavi Groups, with initial results expected to be received during the June 2025 quarter.
Two high-priority targets have been identified: the western gold target, which contains anomalous gold and coincident pathfinder elements in RAB/RC and soils.
The target host unit is magnetite, haematite, schistose diamictite, and phyllite, and it has variable quartz veining and sulphides.
The mineral system is likely to be more extensive than currently known. However, the area is dominated by shallow calcrete cover and will require further geophysical interpretation and reconnaissance drilling consistent with other discoveries in Namibia under calcrete.
The other one is the Deutsche Erde copper prospect, which extends for at least 8km before disappearing under shallow cover.
Trenching is expected to confirm in situ copper mineralisation within schists of the upper Askevoid sequence in a setting similar to the Deblin deposit, 30km east on the Otavi Project.
Further trenching and soil sampling will be undertaken. However, several prospective zones are drill-ready on the prospect.
Midas Minerals’ managing director, Mark Calderwood, says the abundance of magnetite and haematite within the schists and the sulphide species is intriguing given the geological setting.
“Copper has been known at the Deutsche Erde prospect for at least 50 years. The sedimentary and volcanic sequence includes the highly prospective upper Askevoid sequence in a similar setting to the Midas’ Deblin deposit, 30km east of the Otavi Project.
“We are already active on the ground on this project, having located in situ near-surface copper mineralisation, and have plans to test the separate gold target zone with drilling.”
