Kombat Copper Inc. (
TSX: V.KBT,
Stock Forum) says it has commenced a 2,000-metre surface drill program at its flagship Kombat Mine property in Namibia.
The program aims to define a near-surface mineral resource to support an open pit scenario that would allow the company to fast track the project back into production.
Kombat shares rose 7% to 7.5 cents on Wednesday, leaving a market cap of $8.6 million, based on 114.8 million. The 52-week range is 17.5 cents and 3.5 cents.
Kombat is a Canadian junior mining company, with a fully-permitted copper and precious metals project in Namibia, one of Africa’s most mining friendly jurisdictions. The property contains a former copper mine with a long history of production, yielding 12.5 million tonnes of ore at 2.62% copper over a 45-year period, starting in 1962.
The company’s strategic goal is to prove up sufficient economic ore on surface to restart the mine and generate enough cash flow to fund development of underground resources.
This week, the company said phase one of the 2,000-metre drill program will target previously defined mineralized zones.
This initial drilling will occur in the immediate vicinity of the old mine workings that were established from 1908 and 1925 and identified through historic documentation.
According to the company, these documents revealed a small open pit immediately north east of an old shaft that reportedly mined mineralization grading higher than 5% copper at depths of 20 metres.
The former pit has since been backfilled and the company intends to mechanically trench across this pit and determine if it was backfilled with lower grade copper mineralization from subsequent underground development that occurred until 1925.
Subsequent drilling will target a strike length of 750 metres between the #1 and #3 shafts where past mining has provided positive indications of near surface copper mineralization.
The company said a second phase of drilling will be required to attain a sufficient density of data to calculate a compliant mineral resource estimate.
A reputable Namibian-based drill contractor has been enlisted to carry out the drill program,
the company said in a press release.
Meanwhile, Kombat said it has completed a shares for debt transaction that was announced on February 17, 2015 after getting a green light from the TSX Venture Exchange. As a result, Kombat has issued 3.2 million shares at a deemed price of $0.05 per share.
The shares are subject to a statutory four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws.