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Company Profile

One of Blackthorn Resources key projects is the Perkoa zinc mine in Burkina Faso. The company owns 90% of the high-grade world class emerging zinc mine. Perkoa has a JORC code compliant Probable Ore Reserves of 6.3 million tonnes at a mine head grade of 13.9% zinc, equating to 873,400 tonnes of contained zinc metal over a 9.5 year mine life. Processing plant throughput will be 720,000 tonnes per annum.

In Zambia, Blackthorn Resources has a joint venture with BHP Billiton to explore the Mumbwa copper-gold project. The area is prospective for iron-oxide copper-gold deposits similar to the world class examples of Olympic Dam (South Australia) and Ernest Henry (Queensland). Previous drilling in the mid-late 1990s by BHP-Billiton outlined significant mineralisation in 8 of 9 holes over a strike length of approximately 6km. The Phase 2 drilling campaign in 2007 intersected encouraging copper and gold mineralisation. The company completed a follow up Phase 3 drilling programme to test for mineralisation associated with the Kitumba radiometric anomaly. In October 2009, Blackthorn Resources reported a JORC code compliant Inferred Mineral Resource for the Kitumba deposit containing 87Mt @ 0.94% Copper; 0.05g/t Gold; 1.27g/t Silver and 37ppm Uranium (using a 0.5% Cu cut-off).

In South Africa, Blackthorn Resources hold 74% of the Mokopane Nickel-Platinum project on the northern limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, which accounts for some 80% of the platinum resources globally and 67% of global platinum production. Mokopane Project is host to five mineralised zones, for which the Southwestern Zone has been drilled sufficiently to report a JORC code compliant Inferred Mineral Resource of 39.7 million tonnes grading 0.15% nickel, 0.09% copper, 0.22g/t platinum and 0.33g/t palladium.

African Strategy

Blackthorn Resources African strategy is focused on:

  • Developing the Perkoa Zinc mine.
  • Acquiring base and precious metal projects in West Africa and the Zambian copper belt.
  • Targeting primarily advanced exploration/pre-production projects.
  • Seeking to apply Australian mining experience (technical and financial) to projects identified by Blackthorn.

Key points

  • Owns 90% (10% free carried by Burkina Faso government) of the high-grade, world class Perkoa zinc mine in Burkina Faso.
  • Holds 60% interest in Joint venture with BHP Billiton in the Mumbwa copper-gold project in Zambia.
  • Owns 74% (26% held by BEE partner) of the Mokopane Ni-PGE project in South Africa.
  • Listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).