Zambia – Luapula Project
Leveraging our successful record in the Central Province project and established working relationships, ETA acquired, in December 2020, a new exploration licence over 24,000 hectares in Luapula Province, Zambia.
Having carried out initial geological surveys which supported promising results and substantial reserves in place, including of high-grade manganese, ETA took the necessary steps to apply for a new 25-year large-scale mining lease. ETA actively undertook community engagement at multiple levels and commissioned extensive environmental and social impact studies which were discussed with the local communities, the Zambia Environmental Management Agency and the Zambian Ministry of Mines and Mineral Development.
ETA was delighted to have been granted a new 25-year mining lease over 24,000 hectares in the Luapula Province in November 2021.
ETA has since continued to carry out extensive geological surveys and mine engineering studies which support the extraction of substantial quantities of high-grade manganese, cobalt, copper and iron ore. Comprehensive surveys and mine engineering works are being carried out and extraction of manganese ore will commence in Q2 2022. It is projected that the first year's extraction will reach 300,000 tonnes, scaling up in Years 2 and 3 to over 500,000 tonnes per annum.
Separately in 2021, ETA obtained several additional new exploration licences, covering a further area exceeding 150,000 hectares. Early stage geological studies commenced in Q2 2022 for an expected period of 12 to 18 months.
ETA expects to upgrade these exploration licences into new large-scale mining leases, following the evaluation of early positive results from a geological programmes in 2023.