Drilling contractor chosen for Happy Valley Mine
Drilling is expected to begin in early August at Zimbabwe’s Happy Valley Mine, after Pambili Natural Resources Corporation awarded its drilling contract to KW Blasting (PVT) Ltd.
After approaching three local drilling companies, and reviewing competitive bids, Pambili Natural Resources Corporation chose KW Blasting, a subsidiary of Drilling Resources Zimbabwe and a private company based in Harare.
“As a Zimbabwean I must be aware of my potential bias but, having managed mineral exploration projects in other parts of Africa, I really appreciate the benefits of operating in a country like Zimbabwe,” says Pambili’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jon Harris.
“There are very few jurisdictions in the region where one is spoiled for choice in drilling contractors and world-class assay labs, not to mention geologists and other professionals,” he adds. “Despite the former negative publicity the country had once received, Zimbabwe really is the place to be right now, and Pambili has seized the opportunity to build on its initial investment in the Happy Valley Mine.”
Located just 15 kilometres from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, the Happy Valley Mine, a producing gold mine, first saw activity in 1956.
On April 28, 2022, Pambili closed a C$515,000 non-brokered private placement (NBPP), which was oversubscribed, to provide Pambili with the funds needed to earn a share of future gold production from the Happy Valley Mine.
According to the National Instrument (NI) 43-101 Technical Report completed earlier this year on the Happy Valley Mine: “The surface exploration work that has been completed has verified historical production from the gold reef present on the claim; however, there is clearly the requirement for a drilling campaign to determine the extent and magnitude of the gold mineralization.”
The report went on to recommend a Phase 1 resource drilling program, specifically, to define a 200-metre strike and 150m down-dip NI 43-101 compliant resource on a drill grid of 40m x 40m. The proposed work program requires some 1,180m of Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling, with holes on a 40m line spacing.
Samples from the campaign will be analyzed by Antech Laboratories in Kwekwe. Antech is Zimbabwe’s leading ISO/IEC 17025 accredited commercial metallurgical assay laboratory servicing the mining and exploration industries in Zimbabwe, the SADC region and beyond.
