Noronex Limited has commenced a 7,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at its Powerline Project in Namibia, located on the northern edge of the Kalahari Copper Belt, to test large domal features identified in aeromagnetic surveys.
The program, which is funded through the company’s earn-in agreement with South32 Limited, will commence at the Steenbok target and is focused on structural and stratigraphic zones where the prospective NPF–D’Kar contact is anticipated to occur.
This horizon is the key host to major copper deposits across the Kalahari Copper Belt, including some of Botswana’s largest mines.
By focusing drilling on limbs and fold closures of antiformal domes, Noronex is targeting the same geological settings that have historically delivered world-class copper discoveries in the region.
Chief executive officer Victor Rajasooriar described the start of the campaign as a significant milestone.
“This drilling campaign is designed to test magnetic anomalies beneath the cover, aiming both to resolve key geological questions and to better define the copper-host horizon. At the same time, the drilling offers the potential for new discoveries, which will help refine and enhance future exploration targeting and definition,” he said.
The 7,000m RC program builds on limited historic exploration carried out by Antofagasta and Sandfire, which intersected anomalous copper with silver across regional targets.
Recent re-interpretation of magnetic profiles, combined with data from those early campaigns, has helped refine the drill plan.
Previous results in the region have pointed to the potential scale of the system.
At the Qembo Dome, intercepts included 15 metres at 0.46% copper and 62 grams per tonne silver from 150 metres, as well as five metres at 0.48% copper and 64 grams per tonne silver from 177 metres.
Similarly, drilling at the Zambindo Dome produced intersections such as 16.8 metres at 0.33% copper and 38 grams per tonne silver from 268 metres, and 23 metres at 0.29% copper and 28 grams per tonne silver from 212 metres.
These copper-silver ratios are particularly encouraging, with values well above those recorded at many of the deposits and mines already in production across Botswana.
Importantly, the fold closure zones of the antiforms, where shallow-dipping contacts are predicted, remain untested.
Such positions are known to host significant deposits elsewhere, including the Banana Zone in Botswana, which holds 150 million tonnes at 0.93% copper and 12 grams per tonne silver.
The Powerline licences cover more than 180 kilometres of the mineralised NPF–D’Kar contact horizon.
Drilling will be carried out at roughly two-kilometre intervals along these zones to identify deposits comparable in scale to Zone 5 in Botswana, which boasts 168 million tonnes at 2.1% copper and 11 grams per tonne silver over a four-kilometre strike length.
Noronex believes the new program could confirm the Powerline Project’s position as a cornerstone of its Kalahari Copper Belt portfolio. With backing from South32, the company has the financial and technical resources to pursue this ambitious campaign, which is expected to run through the course of FY26.
“The commencement of the 7,000m RC drilling program at the Powerline Project marks a key milestone in our ongoing exploration of the Kalahari Copper Belt in partnership with South32. We look forward to working together to unlock the full potential of these earn-in tenements,” Rajasooriar said.
