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Canadian mining company Ivanhoe Mines has been granted a 7,757-km2 package of new exploration licences in the North-Western Province.
The development follows a collaboration deal signed between Ivanhoe Mines and the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development in 2024.
As a result of the deal, the Ministry of Mines has assisted Ivanhoe’s geological team in identifying the prospective licence package and provided access to existing geological data.
According to Ivanhoe the shared geological data also includes results from the country-wide airborne geophysical survey currently underway.
“We welcome Ivanhoe Mines’ new chapter into Zambia’s mining industry. This new investment in copper exploration is not only about achieving our government’s vision of over 3 Mt of copper production by 2031, but also about unlocking opportunities, empowering communities, and ensuring that our resources benefit every Zambian,” said President Hakainde Hichilema.
The new licence package is located between Ivanhoe’s Western Forelands Exploration Project (230 km to the northeast) and the company’s Angolan exploration licence package (130 km southwest).
“Our new licences in both Zambia and Angola have notable geological similarities to our world-leading discoveries in the DRC.
“We will leverage our deep geological expertise and proven track record in the Western Forelands, where Ivanhoe’s geologists have discovered, including Kamoa-Kakula, over 50 Mt of high-grade contained copper to date,” said Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe Founder and Executive Co-Chairman
Ivanhoe also continues to advance its massive exploration program in the Western Forelands. The 2025 exploration program will be Ivanhoe’s largest-ever, with $50 million dedicated to exploration activities – consisting of 102,000 metres of diamond drilling and 18,000 metres of reverse circulation (RC) drilling. Ivanhoe is targeting an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Makoko area, including a Maiden Resource Estimate for Kitoko and Makoko West, next month.
Meanwhile Ivanhoe will appoint environmental consultants in the second quarter of 2025 to complete key environmental baseline studies and produce an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for approval by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA).
The initial engagements with local communities will also be undertaken prior to the mobilization of field teams for ground surveys and drilling in the second half of the year.
“A detailed review of historical and newly acquired airborne geophysical data will be carried out concurrently with the completion of the EMP,” said Ivanhoe authorities.
