Askari Metals (ASX: AS2) has already added value to its newest asset, with studies identifying significant copper upside at the Nejo gold project in Ethiopia.
After acquiring Neko earlier this month, Askari has wasted no time investigating the upside of the operation, located in a globally significant greenstone belt.
The initial phase of Askari’s high-impact, low-cost exploration campaign at Nejo is already paying off, with a desktop study identifying high-grade copper mineralisation of significant thickness at the Katta target, including 14.33 metres at 3.2% copper and 35.51m at 0.82% copper.
Copper-Bearing Gossans
The historic exploration at Katta identified six copper-bearing gossans, with a mapped strike length of more than 600 metres.
“Validating our acquisition strategy by analysing and digitising the historical exploration data has been our first priority at Nejo,” executive director Gino D’Anna said.
“Despite these high-grade intercepts across wide thicknesses, there is an absence of systematic exploration, and this is a key opportunity for Askari to unlock the potential of these targets through modern, systematic and focused exploration.”
Advanced Brownfields Project
Askari sees Nejo as a district-scale advanced brownfields gold and copper project offering scale, high-grade gold and copper upside, proven mineralisation and proximity to major gold operations.
“With a large-scale landholding, extensive historical data, and clear targets, we have the ingredients to fast-track Nejo toward a maiden JORC resource,” Mr D’Anna said.
“We are excited to unlock the full potential of this project and deliver meaningful exploration milestones in the near term and emerge as a major African gold and copper developer.”
Follow-up Campaign
Askari is using a review of the historical exploration database, as well as geological and geochemical concentration maps, is to design a suitable follow-up drilling campaign at the Katta target area.
These historical exploration activities generated a number of high-priority targets for follow-up exploration that was never conducted and the company believes the Nejo Project remains a very underexplored opportunity with significant exploration upside.
“We are excited to unlock the full potential of this project and deliver meaningful exploration milestones in the near term and emerge as a major African Gold and Copper Developer,” Mr D’Anna added.
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