Mod doubles Botswana exploration budget

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Metals developer Mod Resources on Friday announced plans to double its exploration budget for the next 12 months to A$10-million, to further test its licence holdings in Botswana.

Mod would extend drilling well beyond its T3 copper project, where a 70 hole diamond drilling campaign was currently in progress, to encompass district scale targets.

In addition to the existing T3 drilling, the revised exploration programme would include more than 160 diamond and 40 reverse circulation holes, with the majority to focus on targets along the T3 Dome and T20 Dome.

“While Mod’s first major discovery, T3, has substantial upside and will remain our primary focus to bring into production, it may just be the beginning of a much larger story,” said Mod MD Julian Hanna.

“Numerous other targets hold excellent potential, particularly along the same structural corridor which hosts T3 and other substantial resources already defined within the eastern Kalahari copper belt.”

Hanna said that the 50% increase in the copper price over the last year, as well as improving market sentiment and the rapidly evolving understanding of the potential copper belt, meant that Mod needed to scale up exploration now.

“We expect doubling the exploration budget will help us unlock and realise the potential of this completely under-explored copper belt. The number of drill holes planned on regional targets is more than double what we have drilled at T3 to date, which reflects our confidence in the potential of the wider region.”