Canadian company eyes gold investments in Zim, awaits gvt approval
Zephyr Minerals Ltd is waiting for two Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPO) applied for in 2021 in Zimbabwe to be granted.
The EPO applications are in the final stage of processing which, upon completion will be submitted to the President of Zimbabwe for approval and signature. Timing remains uncertain, however, the Company is hopeful that they will be granted by year-end. The two EPO applications combined cover approximately 124,000 hectares of mineral prospective areas.
Concurrently, the Company is continuing to evaluate mineral properties in Zimbabwe for potential acquisition, option or joint venture. A number of high-potential mineral properties have been identified which are in various stages of negotiation. Preference is given to gold properties with the potential for high-tonnage open pit resources.
In the second quarter, the Company entered into an option agreement to acquire a 75% interest in the 40-hectare Chikonga Gold Mine Property from a privately owned arm’s length Zimbabwe company.
The agreement is subject to satisfactory due diligence which is anticipated to be concluded early in Q1- 2023.
Following a review of relevant technical data, the Company elected to abandon low-priority areas of its Colorado holdings, thereby reducing its total number of unpatented claims from 140 to 78. In addition, on November 7, 2022, the Company entered into a sale agreement with an arm’s length third party with respect to the 10-acre patented claim at Green Mountain. Based on the current Dawson mine permitting exercise it has become evident that the sulphidic mineralization at Green Mountain would be problematic to permit for treatment at Dawson where the mineralization is environmentally benign in comparison. As such, the Company’s focus in Colorado will be the high-priority areas which are being retained, being the core holdings at the Dawson and El Plomo sections of the property portfolio. The property will henceforth be referred to as the Dawson-El Plomo property.
About Zephyr Minerals Ltd
Zephyr Minerals Ltd. is active in mineral exploration in Colorado, USA and Zimbabwe. In Colorado Zephyr has been focused on mine permitting activities at its 100% owned Dawson gold property, which is presently in hiatus pending the collection and submission of additional water well data and satisfying certain other environmental-related questions. The additional required water wells are still in the planning stage and will be drilled once available funds are in hand. Upon collection of the additional data, the Company plans to reapply for a mining permit at Dawson.
In Zimbabwe, the Company is working to build a mineral property portfolio and to this end has applied for two Exclusive Prospecting Orders covering 124,000 hectares. Zephyr is actively assessing additional mineral opportunities in Zimbabwe on an ongoing basis. Zimbabwe boasts favourable foreign ownership rules for mineral properties as well as prospective, underexplored Archean greenstone belts.