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Nqobile Bhebhe, [email protected]

Australia-listed mining firm, Armada Metals, a nickel exploration company has revealed that its latest exploration results in Mberengwa under the Bend Nickel Project confirmed the presence of shallow high-grade nickel and copper mineralisation with huge economic resource potential.

The project, located in the Midlands covers a strategic 12 km2 of prospective geology and contains the bend nickel deposit, which was discovered by Anglo-American Prospecting Ventures in 1971 and drilled in the 1990s with notable nickel intercepts reported.

Armada’s managing director and CEO Ross McGowan said the results demonstrate the potential for wide mineralised zones containing high-grade shoots

“These results provide more compelling evidence that the Bend Nickel Project has economic resource potential.

“We have further confirmed the presence of shallow high-grade nickel and copper mineralisation and we can now also begin to demonstrate the potential for wide mineralised zones containing high-grade shoots.

“We have an exciting year ahead of us assessing the true resource potential of this Ni-Cu-PGE [nickel-copper-platinum group elements] project with further resource-focused diamond drill programs.”

The country is richly endowed with abundant mineral resources, ranging from gold, platinum, and diamond to lithium, among others, which will play a critical role in making Zimbabwe an upper-middle-income society by 2030.

The Government recently noted that Zimbabwe has over 60 recorded minerals but only 10 are being actively mined. The rest will be mined once there is sufficient exploration and resource definition.

There have been calls in the sector to incentivise exploration activities that will unlock the discovery of more minerals as the mining sector is a vital cog to sustainable socio-economic development in Zimbabwe

Exploration data is considered critical for attracting investors and determining the amount of resources to be committed towards exploiting a mineral.

The absence of extensive exploration work over the years has resulted in the country failing to determine the extent of its entire mineral wealth.

Armada Metals Limited added that a further set of drilling results from the diamond drilling program was planned to validate historical drilling results in and around the Bend Nickel Deposit.

Two previous sets of results were reported in mid-December and mid-January.

Reads part of the January results, “These results reveal two significant developments. First, we have confirmed the presence of shallow high-grade nickel and copper mineralisation, which we expect to demonstrate further as we receive more assay results.

“This finding aligns with historical data that shows grades from surface. Second, the Platinum Group Element grades indicate the potential for platinum and palladium endowment which was previously unreported. We are very pleased to have successfully completed our initial drilling program in 2023, and on schedule.

“The Bend Nickel Project is rapidly becoming both a compelling story and opportunity. We eagerly await the remaining assay results and will provide shareholders with more exciting updates soon.”