Kaoko Metals Ltd (ASX:KAO) is preparing for its ASX debut with a focus on copper exploration in Namibia, as managing director Gerard O’Donovan outlined the company’s strategy and project portfolio in a recent interview with Proactive.
The company is advancing two fully permitted projects in prospective mining regions, positioning itself to begin exploration and drilling shortly after listing. O’Donovan said Kaoko Metals had been established to capitalise on strong long-term fundamentals for copper, driven by rising demand from sectors such as artificial intelligence, data centres and electrification.
He pointed to a growing supply shortfall and declining investment in early-stage exploration as key factors underpinning the company’s focus. According to O’Donovan, “there's only one fundamental metal that's going to fuel all that, and that's copper.”
High-grade surface mineralisation at flagship Kaoko project
The flagship asset is located in the underexplored Kaoko Copper Belt, where Kaoko Metals holds an extensive land package targeting sediment-hosted copper-silver mineralisation. The project has already returned encouraging surface results, including a 700-metre zone of outcropping copper with grades of up to 69.6% copper and 2,030 grams per tonne silver.
O’Donovan noted that the project sits within a geological setting known to host significant copper deposits. Despite this, much of the ground remains largely unexplored, offering potential for new discoveries.
In addition to its primary asset, the company has secured exposure to a copper-gold project in the Karibib Gold Belt. This project has seen limited historical drilling but has produced intercepts including copper, gold and tungsten. Kaoko Metals can earn up to an 85% interest through a staged investment structure tied to exploration milestones.
The company is aiming to raise approximately $6.5 million through its initial public offering, which O’Donovan said has received strong backing. Following the raise, Kaoko Metals is expected to have a market capitalisation of about $12.1 million and around $6.8 million in cash.
With permitting already in place, Kaoko Metals plans to move quickly into on-the-ground exploration. Drilling is expected to commence within months of listing, with initial work focused on testing high-grade surface mineralisation at the Kaoko project.