Shuka Minerals Plc (AIM/AltX: SKA) has received certified laboratory results from all five holes drilled at Pit 2 of the Kabwe Zinc Mine, confirming several high-grade zinc intersections and broadly supporting earlier pXRF indications.
Standout results included 19.95m at 29.07% zinc from 221m in KBDD03, 21.34m at 13.37% zinc from 206.06m in KBDD01 and 6.4m at 15.33% zinc from 335.6m in KBDD05.
Using a tighter 10% zinc cut-off, KBDD03 still returned 19.95m at 29.07% zinc, while KBDD05 included 3.0m at 30.22% zinc. Maximum individual laboratory assays reached 48.5% zinc in both KBDD03 and KBDD05.
Shuka said it believes a 5% zinc cut-off is more appropriate under current commodity and project assumptions than the historic 10% threshold, resulting in wider reported mineralised intervals. The eventual economic cut-off will depend on the final mining method and project economics.
The existing 2023 Behre Dolbear NI 43-101 report estimated the No. 2 orebody at 1.958 million tonnes of indicated and inferred resources grading 12% zinc and 2% lead to 300m depth, within a broader estimated remaining tonnage of 2.956 million tonnes grading 11.5% zinc and 1.7% lead to 600m.
Chief executive Richard Lloyd said the latest drilling increases the board’s confidence that the historical resource at Pit 2 could be expanded by at least 50%.
Further laboratory analysis is still under way for silver, vanadium, germanium and gallium, which could provide additional information on potential by-product value.
For investors, the important development is that certified ALS assays have now confirmed very high zinc grades rather than relying on preliminary pXRF readings. However, the suggested 50% resource increase remains a company objective rather than a completed Mineral Resource update, and the economic significance of the wider 5% cut-off intervals will depend on future resource modelling, mining assumptions and metallurgical work.
