Noronex Limited and global mining company South32 are preparing a copper exploration drilling programme of between 2,500 and 3,000 metres in the Kalahari Copper Belt, scheduled to begin in December 2026, as the companies continue exploration across their Namibian and Botswana projects.
The Australian-listed company disclosed in its September quarterly report, released on 30 October, that South32 was continuing to support exploration across its copper assets, with the next drilling campaign planned before the end of the year.
The report does not specify the drilling locations or how the programme will be divided between Namibia and Botswana, where Noronex holds exploration licences and applications covering a combined 9,942 square kilometres.
Namibia accounts for approximately 8,475 square kilometres of those holdings, including licence applications, while the company’s Botswana portfolio covers another 1,467 square kilometres.
The planned drilling follows continued exploration and target-generation work under Noronex’s strategic partnership with South32, which has agreements to acquire majority interests in two copper projects through exploration expenditure.
South32 backs exploration programme
Noronex’s partnership with South32 covers the Humpback-Damara copper project in Namibia and the Cgae Cgae copper-silver project in Botswana.
Under two earn-in agreements, South32 can acquire a 60% interest in each project by funding exploration activities.
The agreements provide for total exploration commitments of A$15 million at Humpback-Damara and A$5 million at Cgae Cgae over a maximum period of five years.
Although the original arrangements provided for combined annual exploration expenditure of A$4 million, the companies subsequently agreed to reduce the minimum expenditure requirement to A$2 million for the 2026/27 programme year while continuing lower-cost exploration and target-generation activities.
The change did not alter the total A$20 million exploration commitments under the agreements.
Noronex remains responsible for managing the exploration programmes, while South32 provides funding in accordance with the partnership arrangements.
The companies are exploring geological formations associated with copper mineralisation across the Kalahari Copper Belt, which extends from central Namibia into northern Botswana.
Noronex’s exploration portfolio covers approximately 300 kilometres of prospective geological strike, targeting the contact between the Ngwako Pan and D’Kar formations, where copper deposits have been identified elsewhere in the belt.
The planned December drilling programme represents the next stage of this exploration work, although the company has not disclosed which individual prospects will be drilled.
Three licences await ministerial endorsement
Noronex also reported progress in securing the exploration rights required to advance its Namibian projects.
During the September quarter, the Ministry of Mines and Energy approved the renewal of three exploration licences, EPL 8655, EPL 8656 and EPL 8672.
However, the renewals were still awaiting final endorsement and signature by the minister at the end of September.
Two other licences, EPL 8664 and EPL 8671, remained under consideration for renewal.
The company also reported that its Rosy Copper exploration licence application, EPL 10390, had received an environmental clearance certificate from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism.
The application had been returned to the mines ministry for final endorsement and signature.
Two further applications, EPL 11421 and EPL 11425, remained at the approval stage, including the environmental clearance process.
At the end of September, Noronex identified six active Namibian exploration licences: EPL 8964, EPL 8965, EPL 9551, EPL 9552, EPL 9932 and EPL 7415.
The outstanding approvals are significant because Noronex’s exploration strategy depends on securing and maintaining access to prospective ground across the Kalahari Copper Belt.
Its reported Namibian portfolio includes both existing exploration licences and applications that have not yet received final approval.
Etango North uranium results under review
Outside its copper exploration activities, Noronex is continuing to assess drilling results from its Etango North uranium project in Namibia’s Erongo Region.
The project, held under EPL 6776, is located approximately three kilometres north of Bannerman Energy’s Etango uranium project.
Noronex reported that its maiden reverse circulation drilling programme at the Oasis Dome and Springbok prospects had confirmed uranium mineralisation across several targets.
The drilling intersected uranium-bearing alaskite intrusions over down-hole widths of approximately 10 to 30 metres, including higher-grade zones exceeding 100 parts per million uranium oxide.
Those results were originally announced in July, with the September quarterly report confirming that further assessment was continuing to determine the next exploration targets.
The company is examining possible additional drilling within EPL 6776 and neighbouring licence application areas once the relevant approvals are obtained.
Etango North is held through a joint venture in which Noronex has a 51% interest and a Namibian partner holds 49%.
Noronex can increase its interest to as much as 80% under the joint venture arrangements and remains responsible for managing and operating the project.
Although the initial drilling confirmed uranium mineralisation, the company has not established a mineral resource at Etango North.
Further drilling and geological assessment will be necessary to determine the extent and continuity of the mineralised zones.
Botswana drilling identifies copper anomalies
Noronex’s regional exploration activities also include the Cgae Cgae copper-silver project in Botswana, where the company completed its first reconnaissance drilling programme.
The programme involved 2,655 metres of reverse circulation drilling conducted between October 2025 and January 2026.
It was designed to investigate copper-silver mineralisation beneath Kalahari sand cover, where surface exploration provides limited information about the underlying geology.
The drilling encountered anomalous copper concentrations in several holes, accompanied by elevated levels of cobalt, nickel, zinc, lead and molybdenum.
The strongest copper anomalism was recorded in hole 26CCRC033, which returned 14 metres containing more than 250 parts per million copper.
However, Noronex reported that the programme did not intersect economic mineralisation.
The company said the results provided information that could help guide subsequent exploration, particularly by identifying geological and geochemical patterns associated with possible concealed mineral systems.
Ground gravity surveys were also completed over prospective geological formations during the September quarter to assist in identifying further drilling targets.
The work forms part of the broader exploration programme supported by South32.
Cash reserves fall to A$1.1 million
Noronex ended September with A$1.135 million in cash, down from A$1.409 million at the beginning of the quarter, as exploration and corporate expenditure continued.
The company spent A$497,000 on exploration and evaluation activities during the three months, while net operating cash outflows amounted to A$890,000.
Its cash-flow report also recorded A$500,000 received through South32 earn-in funding, together with A$33,000 in South32-related generative funding and operator fees.
Based on its expenditure during the quarter, Noronex estimated that its available cash would cover approximately 1.28 quarters of operations.
The company said it expected to receive another A$500,000 from South32 after the September quarter as part of the earn-in arrangements.
Noronex also indicated that it retained the ability to raise additional capital and could adjust exploration expenditure and operating costs to preserve cash if necessary.
The funding position comes as the company expands its international exploration portfolio following the acquisition of the Sleitat tin-tungsten-silver project in Alaska during the September quarter.
That acquisition was a major development for Noronex, which is now pursuing tin exploration in the United States alongside its copper interests in Namibia and Botswana and its Namibian uranium project.
Despite the expansion into Alaska, the South32 partnership remains an important source of funding for the company’s Kalahari Copper Belt exploration activities.
The next developments will be the commencement of the planned December drilling campaign, final ministerial endorsement of outstanding Namibian exploration licences and the identification of further uranium exploration targets at Etango North.
The results of these activities will help determine how Noronex progresses its copper and uranium projects in Namibia during 2027.
