ARC Minerals Ltd (LON:ARCM) is a dynamic exploration and prospect generation company, forging partnerships with major mining companies, in its quest to discover and develop Tier 1 copper deposits.
The Company has a large portfolio of mineral assets and is managed by a high-calibre executive team with a proven track record in sustainable mine development.Â
Zambia
Arc Minerals has entered into a Joint Venture with a subsidiary of Anglo American on its Zambian Copper Project (ZCP). This project covers approximately 767km² in the North Western Province, within the renowned Zambian Copperbelt.
The area is home to world-class mines such as First Quantum Minerals’ Sentinel and Kansanshi copper mines and Barrick’s Lumwana mine.
The JV licenses are located in the Mwinilunga district, well within the trending arm of the major geological structure known as the Lufilian Arc (Copperbelt), on the western flank of the Kabompo Dome. This region represents one of the last dome-related areas in Zambia yet to be explored in detail.
Under the Joint Venture Agreement, Anglo American can earn-in on the ZCP by making a number of project expenditures and assuming operatorship of the project. The commercial terms of the agreement were announced on 20 April 2023 and can be summarised as follows:
- Phase 1: Anglo will pay $14.5M in staged cash payments to Unico Minerals Ltd (67% owned by Arc) and invest up to $24M in exploration expenditures (total $38.5M) within three years and 180 days of the signing of the Agreement to secure a 51% interest in ZCP.
- Phase 2: Anglo may elect to increase its interest in the ZCP to 60% by investing a further $20M (total $58.5M) within two years of the completion of Phase 1.
- Phase 3: Anglo may elect to increase its interest in the ZCP to 70% by investing a further $30M (total $88.5M) within two years of the completion of Phase 2.
Botswana
In November 2021, Arc Minerals acquired a 75% interest in Alvis-Crest (Proprietary) Limited, which holds two prospecting licences (PL 135/2017 & PL 162/2017) in Botswana’s Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB), known as the Virgo Project.
Licence PL 135/2017 lies approximately 10km south-east of the large underground Khoemacau Copper mine, which was recently commissioned by Cupric Canyon Capital LP. Collectively, the Virgo Project covers an area of over 210km2 and lie within (PL 165/2017) and adjacent to (PL 135/2017) the highly prospective Central Structural Corridor and within 10km and 50km, respectively, of the Zone 5 and Banana Zone copper projects, which are regarded as the two largest copper projects on the KCB.
The Company’s prospecting licence PL135/2017 is surrounded on three sides by the prospecting licences of Khoemacau Copper Mining Limited, which has recently been acquired by MMG for approximately $1.9 billion.
This licence is situated along the south-eastern margin of the Kalahari Copper Belt, occupying a similar geological setting to areas recently drilled by Khoemacau at their recent Mawana Fold Discovery and the Zone 9 exploration target and where economic grades of copper mineralisation have already been intersected by drilling.
These discoveries are located along the north-western and south-eastern margins of the Company’s prospecting licence, respectively.
