Tsodilo Resources, the Toronto Stock Exchange listed company, is preparing to turn Ngami region into a mining hub for variety of minerals as it continues to record encouraging results from exploration and drilling activities from its iron project in the northern part of this country.
“The results from the Ironstone work have been very encouraging. We have reported grades of over 70 percent and Iron has been consistent and it doesn’t look like one has to go down to a very fine grind to recover this, which is a great advantage in this type of project,” said Mike De Wit, the company Director.
De Wit said as drilling activities indicate that the area has valuable grades of mineral deposits, the company could within three years start mining iron.
“Drilling will at least take three years but this doesn’t mean that we have to wait that long to start production if the evaluation of the deposit warrants it.”
He said the ironstone deposit is extensive and from the drilling done so far it could be in billions of tons.
“The opportunities are real and for the company it would add a lot of value. We would use that value to continue with our Copper and Diamond work,” he said.
De Wit said though the markets are up and down in line with the global economic uncertainties, in the longer run the outlook is very promising for Iron. “Also as Botswana is unlocking its coal potential and with its own Iron deposit there are great possibilities of developing its own steel industry,” he said.
He said as Ngamiland is an impoverished area it needs the project to provide an upliftment to the local communities. “It will in addition be seen as a diversification of the mineral industry in the country ÔÇô away from diamonds,” he said.
De Wit added that after intersecting rocks which are identical to the Copperbelt in Zambia, they have realised that the region is a major base metal target. “It is also an opportunity to develop some of its people and the region as a whole.”
He said the Ngamiland region is a major base metal target in the country and can be turned into a mining town. While the area sits between two major mineral provinces (Copperbelt in Zambia and Damara) it has never been extensively explored because of its remoteness and thick sand cover.
