Tertiary Minerals PLC (AIM:TYM, OTC:TTIRF) managing director Richard Belcher talked with Proactive about the advancement of the Konkola West copper exploration project, where strategic partner KoBold Metals has committed to Stage 2 of the joint venture.
The project, located in a world-class copper terrain adjacent to operating mines, involves challenging deep drilling operations of up to two kilometres. Belcher said, “These are deep, two-kilometre deep drill holes; the cost of this drilling is within the millions of dollars to drill these holes.”
He explained that KoBold’s continued financial backing, including a commitment to spend up to $6 million in Stage 2, is a strong endorsement of the licence’s potential. Tertiary Minerals retains upside in the project while significantly reducing its financial exposure, with Belcher noting that the JV model “reduces our risk... we don’t need to contribute in terms of the cost of this drilling.”
The technical results so far have enhanced understanding of the basin’s geology and informed future targeting. Belcher highlighted the strategic value of having KoBold take on both the risk and cost associated with such deep exploration, adding that this collaboration allows Tertiary to move forward without diluting resources.
In addition to progress at Konkola West, Belcher revealed plans to carry out additional drilling at the Mushima North project before the rainy season, reinforcing the company's commitment to advancing its wider Zambian exploration portfolio.
Proactive: Richard, good to speak with you this morning. KoBold Metals has now completed Stage 1 and committed to Stage 2 — what does that tell investors about the potential scale and importance of the Konkola West project?
Richard Belcher: I think this really underlines the importance of this licence area and the project, and the potential strategic importance of it as well. This licence is located in a world-class copper terrain and the surrounding neighbours are all operating copper mines. So this is an incredibly important licence area. And it's great to have KoBold Metals involved in this project.
Proactive: Drilling hit some technical challenges but also set a record for depth — what have you learned so far, and how does that shape the next phase of exploration?
Richard Belcher: Overall, the drilling has been very successful from a technical point of view and in terms of understanding — or better understanding — the geology of the basin, and where best now to drill going forward. We always knew this was going to be technically very difficult drilling. It's very deep drilling.
We knew, being only a couple of kilometres away from Konkola Deep, that the mineralisation — if it extends into our licence area — what depth, what grades, what thicknesses are. So it was always going to be technically very challenging and we needed a partner who had the strategy, the forethought, and was also willing to take on the risk and the expenditure to drill. So I think it's been very successful from there. And the fact that they’re advancing into Stage 2 just underlines how important the work so far has been, and hopefully the potential progress we can make going forward.
Proactive: With KoBold spending up to US$6 million in Stage 2, what’s the value for Tertiary in this partnership, and how does it manage risk and reward for shareholders?
Richard Belcher: Well, this has been great for us so far. Certainly, for us as a junior explorer, we wouldn’t have been able to take on this style of drilling on our own. These are deep, two-kilometre deep drill holes. The cost of this drilling is within the millions of dollars to drill these holes. So having a partner willing to take on that expenditure and also to take on the risk in terms for equity has been great. For us it reduces our risk. We don't need to contribute in terms of the cost of this drilling. For that, we give up some of the equity in the project.
So there's still plenty of upside for us in terms of going through to this next stage and also for the stages going forward. So it's a great deal for our shareholders. And hopefully we'll see some value coming out — or further value coming out — of that in the future.
Proactive: Richard, what's next? What else should your shareholders be looking out for?
Richard Belcher: Well, as we've said, we are planning to do some additional drilling at Mushima North. So that's very exciting for us, and it just shows our commitment to sort of aggressively advance our own projects as well. So certainly being able to do additional drilling before the rainy season is a great bonus, and we look forward to updating shareholders around our drilling program as we go forward.
Proactive: I hope you'll keep us updated on progress with that. Richard, thank you very much for speaking with us today.