Prospect is advancing its strategy of becoming a significant player in Africa’s battery and electrification mineral sector by securing an option to acquire a stake in a rare earths project in southern Zambia.

The option agreement with a subsidiary of Antler Gold grants it the right to acquire up to 51% in the Kesya project by making total combined counterparty consideration and project expenditure payments totalling US$3.05m ($4.59m) over two years.

Should the conditions be met, Prospect Resources (ASX:PSC) will be required to make an upfront cash payment of US$150,000 and carry out US$350,000 in exploration expenditure under Phase 1, which includes a payment of US$500,000 in PSC shares at the end of the phase.

Kesya is a large-scale exploration licence (LEL) application where previous geological mapping and surface sampling has identified a large, rare earth-enriched carbonatite intrusion.

Rock chips collected by the vendor returned encouraging surface values of up to 6,559 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) within monazite and bastnaesite mineralisation which is enriched in valuable magnet REEs neodymium and praseodymium (averaging 29% of the TREO content).

“Kesya has all the ingredients of a world-class, rare earth enriched, carbonatite-hosted system, having also returned significant values of the high-value REEs, neodymium and praseodymium, over a broad surface area of the Project,” managing director Sam Hosack said.

“Zambia is a leading jurisdiction to explore and develop mining operations in sub-Saharan Africa, having a long-standing history in the resources sector, particularly for copper.

“This includes excellent infrastructure and strong support from both the government and community, with major companies like Barrick Gold and First Quantum Minerals already calling it home.”

He added that Kesya has potential to deliver a significant new, high-value rare earths discovery, with defined existing drilling targets and a well-established operating environment.

 

Kesya project

The Kesya project covers over 1,053 hectares of ground near the town of Kafue about 90km via sealed road from the capital Lusaka.

This area is relatively underexplored for minerals compared to the remainder of the country with the Kesya carbonatite complex being only described in detail in 1961.

REE mineralisation at Kesya is thought to be related to the presence of monazite – a REE phosphate mineral – and bastnaesite – a REE carbonate-fluoride mineral – which were both observed by Antler in petrological and scanning electron microscopy studies completed during 2021.

Rock chip sampling across the carbonatite complex returned strong and consistent REE mineralisation averaging 1,280ppm TREO.

Prospect is currently designing a preliminary 1,500m drill program to evaluate the continuity of the identified surface REE mineralisation to depth.

Should the company elect to proceed to Phase 2, it will be required to pay Antler a further US$150,000 in cash and US$500,000 in PSC shares.

It will also have the right but not the obligation to spend a further US$750,000 on Kesya within a year from completing Phase 1.

Completion of Phase 2 will see Prospect obtain a call option to acquire 51% of shares in Antler Exploration Zambia Limited, which will hold a 100% interest in Kesya, if it elects to exercise the option within 30 days after completion of Phase 2.

The company will then be required to make a final payment of US$150,000 cash and US$500,000 in PSC shares to Antler.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Prospect Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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