KEY POINTS
- BHP and Cobre form a joint venture to explore copper in Botswana.
- The deal focuses on the Kitlanya West and East Copper projects in the Kalahari Copper Belt.
- Cobre retains full ownership of its other projects outside the agreement.
Cobre, an Australian copper explorer, and the biggest global mining giant BHP signed a joint venture deal that will target copper-silver resources in Botswana.
The key objective of this partnership is to identify Tier One copper resources that are defined as large, low-cost, long-life copper resources. These are major assets, which, when established, have long-term sustainability for the mining company.
Targeting Botswana’s copper belt
The collaboration comes after Cobre’s fruitful involvement in the BHP Xplor initiative, which furthermore supplied finance for the Kitlanya West project’s recently finished seismic survey. Additionally, Cobre’s East Copper project is covered by the earn-in contract. Both are located in the Kalahari Copper Belt of Botswana.
This would allow BHP to have an exploration background to help Cobre, with the view of expanding its copper resources. Cobre will continue to operate all other projects in the districts of Ngami and Okavango that are not part of this deal.
A strategic step for both companies
According to a report by Mining.com, Cobre’s CEO, Adam Wooldridge, was delighted with the development saying that it was a big step for the firm. To him, the prospective merged deal with BHP may give probabilities of a large discovery because BHP understands the procedure for searching for these resources.
BHP began seeking copper reserves when the current CEO, Mike Henry assumed the position in 2020. Copper is also among the most important metal-mining commodities of the future, particularly for e-mobility and renewable energy.
Lately, BHP’s performance raised interest as the company continued to purchase Oz Minerals to strengthen its position in the copper niche. Also, BHP made an ally with Lundin Mining to acquire copper prospects in Chile and Argentina.
This newly formed venture in Botswana has operational significance for both companies in getting resources for the future and securing one of the world’s copper prospective areas.
