Western Money Land Western Foreland Exploration Project
100%-owned and 90%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines
Democratic Republic of Congo
Ivanhoe's DRC exploration group is targeting Kamoa-Kakula-style copper mineralization through a regional exploration and drilling program on its Western Foreland exploration licences, located to the north, south and west of the Kamoa-Kakula Project. Ivanhoe's Western Foreland Exploration Project consists of 17 licences that cover a combined area of approximately 2,550 square kilometres.
Exploration models that successfully led to the discoveries of Kakula, Kakula West, and the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone on the Kamoa-Kakula joint-venture mining licence are being applied to the extensive Western Foreland land package by the same team of exploration geologists responsible for previous discoveries.
Exploration activities at the Western Foreland area continued during Q2 2021, with drilling in the western and eastern extensions of the main Makoko area.
In Q2 2021, 32 diamond holes were completed at the Makoko area, on the west and the east of the main Makoko areas, following a fence of 1,000-metre spacing for a total of 7,310 metres. These results are pending assay. A 200-metre by 200-metre soil-sampling grid on this zone is planned for Q3 2021 for a follow-up on the previous soil geochemistry work.
Diamond drilling started at the Kiala discovery zone in late April. Nine holes have been drilled in the area to date for a total of 2,947 metres, investigating the extension to the north of the high-grade copper structure, as well as exploring the western extent of the zone. Assay results are pending.
The construction of a 16-kilometre road to provide critical access to the new exploration target areas on the newly-acquired western permits has been completed, as well as a bridge over the Lubudi River. Construction of a 60-kilometre access spine road across the western permits also has started, with 20 kilometres having been cleared to date, of which six kilometres have been covered with laterite. The plan is to complete the final bridge construction toward the end of the year once the spine road is complete.
Geophysical airborne surveys such as magnetics, gravity and electromagnetics are scheduled to start in early Q3 2021 in the Western Foreland and the Kamoa North areas. This new geophysical data will enhance the target delineation program for drill testing and soil sampling.
The recent Makoko West drilling is extremely significant for the exploration potential of the new exploration permits as it demonstrates that the target stratigraphy extends westward and that the copper mineralizing system on the western edge of the basin is laterally extensive. Future drilling in the Makoko West area will target specific structural locations that are conducive to developing higher copper grades.