Exploration drilling underway in Namibia’s Otavi region.
By Mo Shine
Midas Minerals has extended the drill-tested copper-silver mineralisation at its Spaatzu prospect in Namibia to at least 1.2 kilometres of strike, with recent reverse-circulation drilling returning broad intervals of copper and silver mineralisation, including higher-grade internal zones.
The results come from the south-eastern extension of Spaatzu, part of Midas’ 1,776-square-kilometre Otavi Copper Project in northern Namibia. The company said drilling has now tested a mineralised corridor that remains open, within a broader anomalous zone extending for about 4 kilometres.
The result gives Midas a longer and better-defined exploration target as it moves from discovery drilling towards resource definition. It does not yet establish a mineral resource or demonstrate economic viability, but the continuity of mineralisation across the drilled corridor will help guide the next phase of drilling and geological modelling.
Recent drilling confirms copper-silver continuity
The latest reverse-circulation results include three holes from Spaatzu’s south-eastern extension.
| Hole | Reported intercept | Higher-grade interval |
|---|---|---|
| SPRC094 | 41m at 1.13% Cu and 33.4g/t Ag from 19m | 20m at 1.83% Cu and 63.4g/t Ag from 39m |
| SPRC093 | 37m at 1.11% Cu and 29.7g/t Ag from 73m | 10m at 1.51% Cu and 47g/t Ag from 74m |
| SPRC097 | 29m at 1.47% Cu and 37g/t Ag from 86m | 8m at 2.74% Cu and 71.9g/t Ag from 102m |
The results are significant for two reasons. First, the intervals are relatively shallow, beginning between 19 and 86 metres downhole. Second, the higher-grade sections occur within broader mineralised envelopes, giving Midas more information about the distribution of copper and silver across the system.
Midas Managing Director Mark Calderwood said the latest drilling and a revised geological interpretation had improved the company’s understanding of the corridor. He said the south-eastern extension appeared more consistent than the mineralisation encountered in the north-western part of Spaatzu.
The company has described the reported intersections as close to true width within a gently dipping to plunging mineralised zone. That interpretation will need to be tested through additional drilling and geological modelling, particularly as the orientation of the mineralisation is incorporated into any future resource estimate.
Fractured host rock and brecciation are important geological features at Spaatzu.
A blind extension within a larger target
The south-eastern zone was identified through a reinterpretation of the project’s geological and structural setting rather than by following an already defined resource. Midas has characterised the area as a blind discovery, with mineralisation hosted in the brecciated hanging wall of a northwest-southeast-trending fault.
According to the company, higher-grade copper-silver mineralisation is concentrated where brecciation intersects chemically reducing units. Copper is dominated by chalcocite, a copper sulphide mineral that can be associated with elevated silver grades.
That geological setting is important because Spaatzu does not appear to be a single, uniform mineralised body. Instead, the prospect may contain structurally controlled higher-grade zones alongside broader, more disseminated mineralisation. Understanding how those styles connect will determine whether the current strike extension can be converted into a coherent resource envelope.
The prospect is located on the northern flank of the Merwe Dome. Earlier exploration identified a copper soil anomaly extending over several kilometres, while drilling has progressively tested sections of that broader geochemical corridor.
Midas previously reported results from other parts of Spaatzu, including:
- 44 metres at 1.36% copper and 36.8g/t silver from 23 metres in discovery hole MORC006, including 16 metres at 2.55% copper and 72.6g/t silver.
- 13 metres at 1.77% copper and 39.5g/t silver, including 5 metres at 3.42% copper and 81g/t silver.
- 21 metres at 1.18% copper and 37.9g/t silver, including 8 metres at 2.01% copper and 66g/t silver.
- 52 metres at 1.19% copper, 8.7g/t silver and 1.93% lead from 148 metres in the extensional hole SPRC062, including 30 metres at 1.87% copper and 12.7g/t silver.
Together, the results indicate that Spaatzu contains both near-surface and deeper mineralisation. However, individual intercepts should not be treated as representative of the deposit as a whole. Grade continuity, thickness, geometry, metallurgy and the proportion of mineralisation that can be classified under reporting standards remain to be established.
Why the 1.2km strike matters
Strike length is a measure of how far mineralisation extends horizontally along a geological trend. Extending the drill-tested strike from the previously reported 800 metres to at least 1.2 kilometres gives Midas a larger area over which to assess continuity and potential scale.
For resource definition, the key question is not simply how long the mineralised zone is. Midas will also need to determine:
- Continuity between drill sections: whether the reported intercepts connect into consistent zones rather than isolated lenses.
- True thickness and dip: how the mineralisation changes with depth and whether it can be modelled with confidence.
- Grade distribution: whether higher-grade copper and silver zones are continuous enough to influence future mine planning.
- Metallurgical response: how copper and silver can be recovered from the different sulphide and host-rock styles.
- Depth and mining geometry: whether the shallow portions support a practical development concept, subject to further technical and economic work.
The company’s wider project setting provides additional context. Otavi is located in Namibia’s Otavi Fold Belt, near the Tsumeb mining and processing district. Midas says the project is about 100 kilometres from the Tsumeb smelter and 530 kilometres from the port of Walvis Bay. The region also has access to sealed roads, rail, electricity, water and an established mining workforce.
The project includes the T-13 and Deblin deposits, as well as several exploration targets. Midas reported an initial inferred resource for T-13 of 10.5 million tonnes grading 1.60% copper and 21g/t silver. Spaatzu is about 10.5 kilometres west of T-13, giving the company multiple copper-silver systems to evaluate within the same project area.
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Drill samples provide geological and assay data for resource modelling.
Drilling continues across Otavi
Midas said two rigs remain active at Spaatzu, with additional assay results still pending. The company is operating seven rigs across the wider Otavi project and has plans to increase that number to nine.
At Spaatzu, the immediate focus is likely to be a combination of step-out and infill drilling. Step-out holes will test whether the 1.2-kilometre mineralised zone continues along strike or down plunge. Infill drilling will provide the closer-spaced information needed to establish geological and grade continuity for a future resource estimate.
The company also plans to continue drilling at T-13 and Deblin while testing additional regional prospects. Midas has said it expects initial mineral resource estimates for Spaatzu and Deblin, together with an updated T-13 resource, in the first quarter of 2027.
Those milestones will depend on the completion of drilling, laboratory assays, geological interpretation and quality assurance procedures. The timing and outcome of any resource estimate remain subject to the results of that work.
The Spaatzu drilling area forms part of a broader multi-kilometre exploration corridor.
For now, the 1.2-kilometre strike extension strengthens Spaatzu’s position within the Otavi exploration portfolio. The recent holes have added shallow, broad copper-silver intercepts to a system that also contains deeper mineralisation and higher-grade internal zones.
The next stage will show whether that mineralisation can be connected into a consistent resource model. Until then, Spaatzu remains an advancing exploration target rather than a defined mine development project.
Sources: Midas Minerals’ Otavi Copper Project; Midas Minerals; Mining.com.au report on the Spaatzu drilling results.