TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Sept. 6, 2016) – Kombat Copper Inc. (TSX VENTURE:KBT) (“Kombat Copper” or the “Company”) today announces that it intends to carry out further drilling at its Kombat Mine in Namibia in order to continue expanding its resource base to further support near term development. Also, as previously disclosed in the Company’s management’s discussion and analysis for the three months ended June 30, 2016, the Company has moved to terminate the contract mining agreement with EBM Mining Namibia (Pty) Ltd (“EBM”).
The contract mining agreement with EBM has been terminated as a result of slower than anticipated development due to funding issues. With a change in Kombat Copper’s management, the Company’s new directive will be to aggressively move towards development scenarios based on sound technical data and planning.
A near term drill program has been designed to support the longer term objectives of assessing the economic viability of its primary asset and to formulate a feasibility study for the Kombat Mine complex. This will determine the scheduling and costs of returning the mine back to commercial production. In conjunction with the upcoming drill program, management will continue to work on a number of initiatives that can enable near term cash flow.
Stephan Theron, President & CEO of the Company commented: “The near term drill program will target some of the shallower areas of the Kombat Mine and will build on the success of the 2015 program. This will ensure an expanded resource statement. With the new COO on board, we will also work on near term cash flow initiatives. We foresee stronger copper and lead prices in 2017/18.”
The Company aims to expand on the 2015 drill program by infill drilling in specific areas and re-calculating resources to compliant standards in several areas including the Kombat East, Kombat Central Pit, Kombat West and Asis Far West sections of the mine property.
A phased program of 12,000 meters of diamond drilling is being planned. Known areas of significant mineralization have been prioritized and an initial 5,000 meters of drilling is anticipated to commence in the fourth quarter of this year.
Initial priority will be put towards the Kombat East – #3 Shaft area of the mine where modeling is ongoing and recent and historic drilling has indicated significant zones of copper and lead mineralization. Near-surface mineralization will initially be expanded from results obtained by Kombat Copper in 2015 (Table 1).
Drilling by Kombat Copper in 2012 returned intersections including 6.84 meters averaging 2.81% Cu and 53.3 g/t Ag from hole AE109A-12 from 39.23m to 46.07m. A footwall zone in the same hole assayed 2.51% Cu and 15.54 g/t Ag over 6.26m from 96.84m to 103.1m. Hole AE89A-12 returned 5.06m averaging 0.93% Cu and 19.14 g/t Ag from 31.0-36.06 m, while a footwall zone in the same hole had 5.99m assaying 0.19% Cu, 5.23% Pb, 2.48% Zn and 6.17 g/t Ag from 54.91 to 60.90m.
The 2015 diamond drilling program aimed to verify historic drill intersections in the area and identify additional areas of interest. Significant results of the 2,000 metre campaign at Kombat East are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Assay results from the Kombat East area.
| Hole # | From (m) |
To (m) |
Length (m) |
Est. True Width (m)* |
Cu% | Pb% | Ag g/t |
| K15-018 | 41.40 | 52.95 | 11.55 | 7.16 | 0.48 | 0.004 | 4.73 |
| K15-020 | 20.00 | 44.45 | 24.45 | 15.16 | 0.55 | 0.01 | 1.94 |
| K15-021 | 7.44 | 46.33 | 38.89 | 24.11 | 0.66 | 2.29 | 8.67 |
| K15-033 | 1.53 | 23.6 | 22.07 | 13.68 | 0.64 | 1.10 | 2.46 |
| and | 28.24 | 31.0 | 2.76 | 1.71 | 1.12 | 0.04 | 2.46 |
| and | 50.8 | 61.0 | 10.2 | 6.32 | 0.78 | 1.48 | 4.89 |
| *assumes zone are vertically dipping | |||||||
Kombat East underground workings are now de-watered to a depth of almost 100 meters below surface.
At the Kombat Central pit area, additional drilling will be carried out to verify historic drilling and expand upon the Company’s drill results from 2015, ultimately leading to a resource calculation for the area. Diamond drill results from 2015 included hole K15-06 averaging 0.57% Cu and 4.3 g/t Ag over 8.7m, hole K15-07 that intersected 8.5m averaging 0.69% Cu and 6.4 g/t Ag, hole K15-08 that averaged 2.74% Cu and 19.4 g/t Ag over 1.79m, hole K15-10 that intersected 1.16% Cu and 11.0 g/t Ag over 19.25m, and hole K15-12 that intersected 5.16m averaging 1.37% Cu and 14.8 g/t Ag.
At Kombat West, the 2015 drilling intersected 29.65m averaging 1.24% Cu and 19.2 g/t Ag in hole K15-01, 1.11m averaging 0.75% Cu and 6.7 g/t Ag in hole K15-02, 13.33m averaging 0.23% Cu,1.26% Pb and 2.7 g/t Ag in hole K15-26, 10.95% Cu and 142.0 g/t Ag over 1.2 meters in hole K15-28 (the hole intersected an old stope), 10.16m averaging 1.05% Cu and 15.4 g/t Ag in hole K15-29, and 15.53m averaging 1.35% Cu and 15.4 g/t Ag in hole K15-30.
The Kombat West area represents an area between historic workings at the Kombat Mine in the 1960s and from the early 1900s. The drill holes above represent a strike length of 210 meters.
At the Asis Far West, the Company plans to re-interpret the 2014 inferred mineral resource that has been calculated for the area. A better understanding of the geometry and configuration of the Kombat mineralization may allow for an improved interpretation and resource calculation. It is planned to extend the interpretation to the east, well past the existing mine development on 12 and 13 levels, a distance of 1,000 to 1,200 meters from the AFW shaft. Historic diamond drilling in an undeveloped area below 12 level resulted in intersections of 16 meters at 10.35% Cu in hole AU12/200 and 6 meters at 3.59% Cu in hole AU12/177.
At the Company’s Gross Otavi mining license area, located 10 km to the west of Kombat Mine, a work program of geochemistry and further diamond drilling on the Gross Otavi East area is being considered. Past drilling from the 1960s intersected 1.76% Cu and 8.9% Pb over 7.32m and 6.6% Cu over 0.91m in an area that had been subjected to limited surface mining in the early 1900s. Due to the limited nature of the historic mineralized intersections, the true width cannot be determined. A re-interpretation of the geology and structures in the area has indicated a possible correlation between the East area and the historic resource in the Central area consisting of 158,000 tonnes averaging 1.54% Cu and 5.85% Pb. Kombat Copper is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource or mineral reserve and the historical estimate should not be relied upon. Additional metallurgical and engineering studies are required. The initial objective at Gross Otavi East would be to define further near-surface mineralization.
Consideration is also being given to expanding the Company’s current land position in order to allow for the expansion of resources by exploration. Airborne geophysical methods are being assessed to assist with geological and structural interpretations and their relationship to mineralization.
Readers are cautioned that the potential quantity and grade of the above results are conceptual in nature and that there has been insufficient exploration work to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.
Qualified Person
F. W. Nielsen, P.Geo., is a “qualified person” as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this press release. As a director of the Company, Mr. Nielsen is not considered independent.
About Kombat Copper
Kombat Copper is a publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core operations focused on copper resources in Namibia, one of the world’s most prospective copper regions, where it has substantial assets in place with significant upside. The Company continues to hold an 80% interest in five mining licenses in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area of Namibia particularly known for its high-grade copper deposits. Within these licenses are three past-producing mines including the Company’s flagship property, the Kombat Mine.
Cautionary Notes
This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding the and the Company’s proposed exploration work and drill program, possible mineralization and deposits, the anticipated timeline regarding future exploration work and availability of results, the Company’s expectations regarding mineral resources and potential development work, the Company’s plans for the Kombat mine, the Company’s ability to acquire more land and the impact of the termination of the contract mining agreement with EBM. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Stephan Theron
President & CEO
+1 (416) 722-6744
[email protected]
www.kombatcopper.com
