North River Resources (LON:NRRP) has expanded its footprint at the Namib lead zinc project area in Namibia almost four-fold through a new licence next door to its existing acreage.
The new exploration licence (5075) increases the company’s exploration acreage at Namib to 16,918 hectares from 4,523 ha. Historic data on the new acreage is being collected and will be used alongside a review of structural geology and geochemistry and geophysics programmes to identify new exploration targets.
Numerous surface gossans similar in size to the one that led to the discovery of the Namib Mine have been identified by earlier exploration.
Earlier work also indicated the presence of lead and zinc ore, underpinned by the presence of the Karib Formation host marble, containing lead, zinc, silver ore, which folds and widens within the licence area.
Previous explorers only drilled shallow exploration holes and thus significant ore may have been missed at depth. the company added.
Elsewhere, North River has allowed its Ubib exploration licence to lapse due to a lack of commercial prospectivity and ban on nuclear fuels exploration licences in Namibia. The Brandberg joint venture with Extract Resources will also be dissolved for similar reasons.
Martin French, Managing Director, said "The coming months will be highly active at our flagship Namib lead zinc mine where we plan to step up exploration through the commencement of drilling, geophysics and other studies at the site.
“Consequently it makes sense to secure prospective targets on EPL 5075, which could potentially supply new ore sources for Namib.
“We are moving quickly to develop a surface exploration programme which will provide a significant new dimension to the Namib project. In line with our policy of streamlining our portfolio we have allowed EPL 3139 to lapse and have dissolved the Brandberg joint venture, as we focus our efforts on adding value to Namib in 2013."