Africa-focused Australian mining junior Black- thorn Resources says the future of the Mumbwa copper exploration project, in Zambia, is bright and that the company “expects big things” from this advanced-stage exploration asset.

The company is also devel-oping the Perkoa zinc project, in Burkina Faso, a near-mine asset closest to being in produc- tion. This project is a joint venture between Blackthorn Resources and global resources company Glencore International, which recently listed on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges. The project is expected to be commissioned late in the first half of 2012.

CEO Scott Lowe reports it is all systems go in Zambia and that the company may be able to “develop Mumbwa along the value chain” faster than originally expected. The project already has a Joint Ore Reserves Committe-compliant inferred resource of 87-million tons at 0.94% copper.

“The company, through its joint venture (JV) with BHP Billiton, has completed its Phase 4 exploration, includ-ing a drilling programme at Mumbwa, and is ready to move into the next phase of drilling. With further successful drilling, the project will move into the prefeasibility and bankable feasibility study phases. “If everything goes well, in-fill drilling could potentially be completed by the end of the year and Blackthorn can reassess the resource in the first quarter of 2012,” says Lowe.

The fact that the company is debt free works in its favour and Lowe adds that this puts it in a favourable position when applying for financial backing in the future.

Blackthorn will be eager to ramp up the project, especially since it recently announced fellow Australian miner BHP Billiton has decided to pull out of the JV, and 100% would be transferred to Blackthorn.

Although not commenting directly on the BHP’s decision to pull out, Lowe hinted at the fact that BHP pulled out of the project because it felt that Mumbwa did not fit its profile of a ‘giant project’.

“But this does not mean that Mumbwa is not valuable and cannot be transformed into a valuable and profitable operation in the future. Blackthorn has a Joint Ore Reserves Committee- compliant mineral resource on only 2 km, or 10% of the 20-km-long anomaly area. The company feels that there is still significant potential in the immediate areas surrounding the known mineralised zones, and also exciting greenfield upside beyond the resource area” says Lowe.

Increasing the Resource With exploration work continuing, Blackthorn is now faced with the mammoth task of potentially increasing the resource and beginning economic evaluation and early metallurgical study work. If this proves positive, then it may well soon find itself doing design and planning as well as developing a prefeasibility programme.

One of the aspects the com-pany will need to take into consideration is delivering its copper to port.

Situated a fair distance from Lusaka, Mumbwa is in a position where it can access no fewer than four mineral export channels, namely through Angola, Namibia, Mozam-bique and South Africa.

“To be honest, it is still early days to consider an export model just yet; the company’s main focus is short-term to fast-track the Mumbwa project to further define the resource and assess economic viability, but also to possibly transform it into a giant project,” concluded Lowe.