Australian-listed Kaoko Metals has confirmed copper and silver mineralisation at its Chalkos project in Namibia, with its first two diamond drill holes returning broad intersections of up to 48 metres and an individual sample grading 6.42% copper and 61 grams per tonne silver.
The results, released on 12 October 2026, provide the first laboratory confirmation of copper and silver grades at the Otniel prospect, where the company reported visible copper mineralisation in September. The latest assays establish the grades of the mineralisation and mark an important step in determining the potential of the 400-square-kilometre Chalkos Copper-Silver Project.
The highest individual copper grade came from drill hole DDOT002, which returned 48 metres grading 1.02% copper and 12.9 grams per tonne silver from a depth of 46 metres. Within that intersection, drilling identified 28.65 metres grading 1.40% copper and 17.3 grams per tonne silver, including 7.15 metres grading 2.76% copper and 34.6 grams per tonne silver.
A narrower 3.95-metre section returned 3.70% copper and 43.2 grams per tonne silver, while an individual 1.1-metre sample graded 6.42% copper and 61 grams per tonne silver, representing the highest copper grade recorded in the first two holes.
The other hole, DDOT001, returned 37.1 metres grading 1.23% copper and 15.2 grams per tonne silver from 54 metres. This included 31 metres grading 1.43% copper and 17.8 grams per tonne silver, with a higher-grade interval of 6.62 metres grading 3.05% copper and 40 grams per tonne silver.
Within that interval, a one-metre sample returned 5.12% copper and 86 grams per tonne silver, the highest individual silver grade reported from the two holes.
The company said the results confirmed broad zones of shallow copper and silver mineralisation, with higher-grade sections occurring within both drill holes. The laboratory results also established a strong association between copper and silver, with higher copper grades generally accompanied by elevated silver concentrations.
Kaoko Metals managing director Gerard O’Donovan said the first results demonstrated the exploration potential of Chalkos, particularly because the company had only begun investigating the project.
“Confirming broad zones of shallow copper-silver mineralisation with higher-grade zones in our first two drill holes is an exciting start to our drilling campaign at Chalkos. To achieve these results with our very first holes drilled within a 400km² landholding highlights the enormous exploration opportunity ahead of us.
“We are still just at the beginning of this exploration campaign. Our immediate focus is to establish the scale and continuity of the mineralisation at Otniel and to drill test Donkey Hill, while pursuing the potential for further discoveries in between them and across the broader Chalkos package.”
The assays follow the company’s announcement on 2 September 2026 that its maiden drilling programme had intersected visibly strong copper mineralisation at Otniel. At the time, laboratory results were still outstanding, meaning the company could not confirm the copper and silver grades within the mineralised sections.
The latest results provide that confirmation, although the company cautioned that the reported assay intervals are narrower than some of the visibly mineralised zones because a nominal copper cut-off grade of 0.2% was applied when calculating significant intersections.
The intersections represent lengths measured along the drill holes, and their true geological widths have not yet been established. This distinction will become important as additional drilling determines the orientation, thickness and continuity of the mineralised zones.
The discovery is still at an early exploration stage, with laboratory results reported for only two diamond drill holes. Kaoko has not yet established a mineral resource or completed studies to determine whether the copper and silver mineralisation could support a commercially viable mining operation.
However, the relatively shallow depths at which mineralisation was encountered provide an important starting point for further exploration. The two broad intersections began at down-hole depths of 46 metres and 54 metres respectively, with higher-grade sections identified within both.
The company is now concentrating on establishing the scale of the Otniel discovery through additional drilling, while simultaneously investigating other copper and silver targets within the Chalkos project.
A second diamond drilling rig has been deployed to the Donkey Hill prospect, allowing exploration to proceed at two locations within the project area.
Earlier exploration at Donkey Hill East identified an extension of surface copper mineralisation exceeding 700 metres, bringing the broader mapped copper-bearing trend to more than 1.5 kilometres. The surface findings provide additional targets, although drilling is required to determine whether mineralisation continues at depth and whether the grades are comparable to those reported at Otniel.
Kaoko had already expanded its planned drilling programme at Otniel to at least 15,000 metres as part of its efforts to establish the extent of the discovery.
The programme is intended to test the continuity of copper and silver mineralisation beyond the initial drill holes, investigate its geological controls and identify additional mineralised zones that could contribute to a future resource estimate.
The company is also expediting laboratory analysis of the remaining completed holes, with further results expected to provide a clearer understanding of the distribution and consistency of copper and silver mineralisation at Otniel.
The next assays will be particularly important in determining whether the broad mineralised intervals encountered in DDOT001 and DDOT002 extend between drilling locations and continue along the surrounding geological structures.
The presence of both copper and silver could become significant in any future development assessment, as silver may provide an additional source of revenue if subsequent metallurgical studies demonstrate that it can be economically recovered.
No metallurgical recovery results, mining costs or project economics were disclosed in the latest announcement, and the company remains focused on exploration rather than mine development.
Chalkos covers approximately 400 square kilometres, leaving substantial areas beyond Otniel and Donkey Hill that have yet to be tested through drilling.
The company’s wider exploration strategy involves investigating whether the copper and silver mineralisation identified at Otniel is part of a larger system extending across the project area.
The first laboratory results have confirmed copper grades exceeding 3% across intervals of several metres, alongside broader intersections averaging more than 1% copper. The individual samples grading 6.42% copper and 86 grams per tonne silver further demonstrate the presence of higher-grade mineralisation within the discovery.
Kaoko’s immediate priorities are to continue drilling at Otniel, test the Donkey Hill prospect and obtain outstanding laboratory results from completed holes.
The company will need additional drilling to establish whether the mineralised zones are continuous and sufficiently extensive to support a mineral resource estimate.
The results nevertheless represent an important development for Chalkos, moving the project beyond its initial visible copper discoveries to laboratory-confirmed copper and silver mineralisation, with further drilling now determining the scale of the discovery.
