Black Fire Minerals takes up stake in copper silver project in world’s second biggest copper belt

Black Fire Minerals (ASX: BFE) has exercised its option to acquire up to 54% effective equity in the highly prospective Kangeshi copper-silver project, located in the Katanga Copper Belt, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Kangeshi is an attractive prospect to Black Fire, covering 271 square kilometres and located in a copperbelt that has the second largest global copper endowment after Chile, running from the DRC south into Zambia.

Major global players already active near Kangeshi include Vale (NYSE: VALE), Glencore (NYSE: GLEN), Freeport (NYSE: FCX) and Anvil Mining (TSX: AVM).

Black Fire chairman Anthony Baillieu said, “We are very pleased to have completed due diligence and exercised the stage 1 option for Kangeshi. All of the detailed work undertaken during the last two months has continued to support our belief that the Kangeshi Project has significant potential to deliver a large tonnage, mid-grade copper/silver deposit".

The Kangeshi mineralisation occurs as an outcropping, shallowly dipping sedimentary horizon that has returned extensive plus 1% copper and plus 10 grams per tonne silver rock chip assay results over in excess of 10 kilometres of strike length.

Black Fire is planning to start a 5,000 metre diamond drilling program in November to infill and extend Vale's drill coverage.

"We look forward to shortly commencing drilling with the aim of outlining a maiden mineral resource within the next 6-8 months," Baillieu said.

Vale's 2008 diamond drilling program comprised 9 holes along 5 kilometres of strike, intersecting significant near-surface copper-silver mineralisation up to 1.3 kilometres down dip but less than 180 metres from the surface.

Results from this program included 11 metres at 1.1% copper and 23.6g/t silver, 10.5 metres at 1.2% copper and 22.6g/t silver and 4.7 metres at 1.42% copper and 37.2g/t silver.

Based on the available data, Black Fire’s Initial Exploration Target for the potentially open pittable Kangeshi Prospect is 25-35 million tonnes at 0.8-1.2% copper and 15-20g/t silver. The potential of the remaining prospects and deeper underground potential is yet to be assessed.

"The Kangeshi Copper Project and the Pilot Mountain Tungsten Project gives the company two quality advanced projects at which we are aiming to deliver maiden JORC Resources during the first half of 2012," Baillieu said.

"These two projects, in addition to the company’s existing projects, give Black Fire a pipeline of quality projects to build sustainable value upon for our shareholders.”

Black Fire acquired its stake in Kangeshi through an agreement with Canadian private company Rift Valley Minerals and private DRC company TSM Entreprise s.p.r.l., announced on July 27.

Originally published at: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/20128/black-fire-minerals-takes-up-stake-in-copper-silver-project-in-worlds-second-biggest-copper-belt-20128.html