Discovery granted new manganese prospecting licenses in Botswana
Discovery Metals Limited is pleased to announce that 16 new Prospecting Licences (PLs) in southern Botswana have been granted to the Company . These PLs, which cover "all metals", are valid for an initial period of three years, beginning on the 1st January 2011 and are renewable twice for two additional terms of two years each, with a standard renewal requirement to relinquish 50% of the tenure area at each renewal.
The PLs cover areas underlain by rocks of the Transvaal Supergroup in an extension of the Griqualand West Basin in South Africa, known in Botswana as the Kanye Basin. The Griqualand West Basin is host to a number of large manganese mines, which collectively comprise the Kalahari Manganese Field, located immediately west of Hotazel in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. More than 50% of the world's manganese resources are contained in this world-class mineral district.
Exploration for manganese deposits in the Kalahari Manganese Field has historically been hampered by the thick cover of Kalahari sand (e.g. 45 metres deep at the Mamatwan Mine, 20km south of Hotazel). The prospective stratigraphy in southern Botswana is likely to be similarly covered by thick sand.
This exploration initiative leverages off the Company's knowledge and operating expertise in Botswana, as well as its strong track record of delivery, and represents a highly prospective exploration opportunity. An initial work programme to assess the prospectivity of the PLs will commence in the first half of 2011.
Discovery Metals' Managing Director, Brad Sampson, commented; "The Kalahari Copperbelt will remain our flagship exploration project, with the simultaneous development of the Boseto Copper Project and our copper regional exploration being our primary focus for 2011. However, these recently granted tenements allow us to expand our exploration initiatives into a new area of Botswana and potentially search for a new metal. The location of this area, on the northern extension of a world-class mineral district, the Kalahari Manganese Field, is in line with our corporate strategy of identifying further value-adding exploration opportunities in Botswana".
This article was originally posted on Southern Africa Business Communities
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