PRESS RELEASE: New Strategic Partnership for Copper Exploration in Zambia
Giant Mineral Fields (GMF), a global mineral exploration company, is pleased to announce the formation of a strategic partnership (the Partnership) with African Holdings Limited (AHL). AHL is a joint venture between Curprite Geo-services Limited (Curprite), a Zambian-based geological services company and Menel Energy and Resources, a Zambian mining investment company. The Partnership intends to commence exploration programmes across three license areas in Zambia’s Central African Copperbelt, a region well known globally for the quality and scale of its copper deposits.
The Partnership believes this is a uniquely opportune moment to help accelerate the role of Zambia in delivering new sources of copper due to a variety of factors:
Zambia’s undeveloped resource potential – with only 49% of the country’s mineral-rich land geologically mapped1
Expanding global supply shortfall of critically needed copper, which is estimated2 to be 10 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) by 2034. (Expected copper mine supply in 2025 is 25 Mtpa3.)
Zambian Government’s goal of tripling copper production, together with effective policy incentives for the private sector to further increase copper exploration
International support for Africa’s first transcontinental rail network, known as the Lobito Corridor, to connect almost the entire regional copper-cobalt belt with additional links across sub-Saharan Africa
Significant continuing investment by several mining industry majors in greenfield and brownfield copper expansion projects in Zambia.
Under the terms of the agreement, GMF will undertake copper exploration activities on three licences in Zambia, numbered 33445-HQ-LEL, 33446-HQ-LEL, and 33449-HQ-LEL. These licences have been identified as having substantial potential for copper deposits based on their premium location in the Lufilian Arc structure and Domes region of the Central African Copperbelt.
Exploration activities by the Partnership will include advanced geochemical and geophysical surveys, as well as targeted drilling campaigns, to evaluate comprehensively the mineral potential of these licences. These methods are expected to provide critical data to guide future development plans.
Licences 33445-HQ-LEL and 33449-HQ-LEL are situated in a highly prospective region, between the Mwombezhi and Kabompo Domes, which host the Barrick-owned Lumwana and the First Quantum-owned Sentinel mining projects respectively, two of Zambia’s most significant copper mining operations. Licence 33446-HQ-LEL is located to the northwest of these mines in another geologically highly prospective area sitting on the same geological structure as Africa’s richest copper mine, Kamoa-Kakula, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Brian Kiernan, Interim CEO of Giant Mineral Fields, said: “The partnership with African Holdings Limited underscores our commitment to unlocking the potential of Zambia’s mineral wealth and accelerating the eventual development of new copper production. We are excited to work with Curprite Geo-services Limited, a company with deep expertise and local knowledge of Zambia’s geological landscape.”
Trust Hatuma, CEO of Curprite Geo-services Limited, said: “This agreement with Giant Mineral Fields underscores the global interest in Zambia’s revitalised mining sector. We are proud to contribute our expertise to this project, which promises to bring significant benefits to the local economy and the broader mining community.”