Exploration

Mutoshi

Geology

The Mutoshi Mine first opened in 1904 as the Ruwe Gold Mine, and records report that 67,000oz of gold, plus minor amounts of platinum and palladium, were produced from then until 1948.  Copper and cobalt mining only began in 1937 and the mine closed, due to pit wall failures and corporate cash flow problems, in 1987.  Production for the period from 1960 to 1987 is reported to have been 986,000 tonnes of copper metal and 18,000 tonnes of cobalt metal.  Gécamines records, from 1999, suggest that there are 11Mt of ore at 2.25% Cu and 0.12% Co remaining (for 246,900t Cu and 13,400t Co).
 
While most of the ore produced at Mutoshi was mined from the classic "Lower" and "Upper Orebodies", a third, and unusual, source of ore was also mined.  This was the so-called "Breche Ore", which occurred stratigraphically beneath the other two ore horizons in the so-called "RAT" unit.  It was comprised of malachite (and some heterogenite) nodules, within a soft and friable matrix of siliciclastic and dolomitic sediments, and is interpreted to have formed by leaching from the overlying ore horizons. The average grade of the "breche ore" was reportedly 1.8% Cu.

Apart from the Mutoshi Mine "fragment" of "Mines Group" rocks, several other "fragments" exist on the Mutoshi tenement (Mutoshi NW & N, Manga, Kananga, Mulosoi, Mutoshi S), all of which must be considered as prospective for copper and cobalt.  While none of these other "fragments" have been systematically explored as yet, the outcrops of the "Lower" and "Upper Orebody" stratigraphic intervals, within several of them, have been the focus of artisanal mining activity, which confirms their potential.

Exploration History

Apart from in the immediate vicinity of the Mutoshi deposit itself, Gécamines appears to have done very little systematic exploration elsewhere on the tenement.  Historical records show that a few DD holes were drilled into the Mutoshi NW

To date, Anvil has completed the following activities on the Mutoshi tenement:

• Evaluation of the Mutoshi Cobalt resource, immediately east of the main open pit. A small resource has been defined.
• Scope drilling at Mutoshi Central and Mutoshi NW "fragments" - a follow-up programme is planned for Mutoshi N.