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Highlights
- The Nxuu Deposit contains zinc, lead, silver, vanadium, gallium, and germanium in SEDEX-style mineralisation.
- Environmental Impact Assessment approved for 2,600m of HQ diamond core drilling to upgrade the resource estimate.
- Two-year extension secured for Prospecting Licence PL43/2016 until 31 December 2026.
- Gallium, germanium, and vanadium’s strategic uses add significant value to the Nxuu Deposit project.
Mount Burgess Mining NL (ASX:MTB) advanced exploration activities at its 100%-owned Kihabe-Nxuu project in Botswana during the December 2024 quarter.
The Nxuu Deposit is a shallow deposit, containing zinc, lead, silver, vanadium, gallium, and germanium in SEDEX-style mineralisation, occurring in a fully oxidised and weathered quartz wacke. The deposit lies beneath Kalahari sand cover, above a barren dolostone basin.
Last month, the company released data showing the individual contributions of these six metals in the polymetallic Nxuu Deposit. The contribution of each metal, based on the total 1,711.7m of resource drilling from 40 drill holes (averaging 42.8m per hole to the base of mineralisation), is reflected in the Indicated/Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate.
Test work is currently focused on determining the leaching kinetics of the Nxuu life of mine composite. Additional tests are needed to develop marketable products and concentrates on site. This includes producing a saleable gallium compound, such as gallium nitride (GaN) or gallium arsenide (GaAs), noting that gallium liquifies at 30°C. Cerussite will be recovered using gravity.
Other major updates during the quarter included the following:
Botswana’s Department of Environmental Affairs approved MTB’s Environmental Impact Assessment for an additional 2,600m of HQ diamond core infill drilling at the Nxuu Deposit. This drilling aims to upgrade the current Indicated/Inferred mineral resource estimate to a Measured/Indicated status, enabling further feasibility studies.
The Department of Mines, Botswana, granted a two-year extension for Prospecting Licence PL43/2016 until 31 December 2026. The licence, covering nearly 1,000km2, includes the Neoproterozoic belt containing the Kihabe-Nxuu polymetallic Zn/Pb/Cu/Ag/V/Ga/Ge project near the Namibia border.
On 28 November 2024, approval was granted at the company’s annual general meeting for a 1 for 4 consolidation of its issued share capital. The company’s issued share capital now stands at 339,537,446 shares.
With the Nxuu deposit originally considered a zinc, lead, and silver deposit, the addition of gallium, germanium, and vanadium—modern, strategic metals—represents significant credits for the project. Gallium's critical role in semiconductors, germanium's use in solar panels and night vision, and vanadium’s application in energy storage technologies highlight the growing value and potential of the Nxuu project in the evolving market for these strategic resources.
Shares of MTB were trading at AUD 0.005 at the time of writing on 28 January 2025.
