Xtract Resources lands Zambian copper and gold exploration agreement

Xtract Resources on Monday signed a memorandum of agreement with a consortium to undertake exploration works on the copper/gold small scale mining license number 8370-HQ-SML located at Kajevu in the North Western Province of Zambia.

The AIM traded company stands to gain a 50% share in the project and said the purpose of the agreement is to identify a copper/gold resource within a period of 24 months, with the parties having agreed to jointly fund a $1m exploration works at the area known as the Matrix Project.

Colin Bird, executive chairman of Xtract Resources, said: "The iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) exploration potential in Zambia has not been fully explored and several highly prospective opportunities exist. We have identified the Matrix Project as being high in potential and are currently investigating other areas which possess similar potential."

The project's breccia vein system extends for at least 3km, with an initial target section of 800m within the licence, while recent small scale open pit works have recovered high grade hand-picked copper as well as alluvial gold nuggets.

"In developing our activities into Zambia, we are providing a country balance and also introducing copper as a commodity hedge against gold. The board of Xtract believes that the fundamentals for copper in the future are stronger than have been experienced for a considerable time," said Bird.

Xtract Resources' shares were down 1.79% at 0.93p at 1528 GMT.