Shuka Minerals (AIM:SKA), the AIM and AltX-listed African mine operator and developer, said ALS Labs has confirmed scale and high-grade results from its first-phase drilling at Pit 2 of the Kabwe zinc mine.
The five holes, KBDD01 to KBDD05, were drilled by Ox Drilling and assayed in Johannesburg for zinc, lead and copper.
Using a 5% zinc cut-off grade, rather than the 10% historically applied, the company reported intersections including 21.34 metres at 13.37% zinc and 19.95 metres at 29.07% zinc, with KBDD05 sustaining grades even at a 2% cut-off.
Peak lab-confirmed grades ranged from 25.5% to 48.5% zinc across the five holes, matching earlier field-based pXRF readings.
A 2023 NI 43-101 report by Behre Dolbear had put the No 2 orebody at 1.958 million tonnes of indicated and inferred resource grading 12% zinc and 2% lead to 300 metres depth, part of a wider 2.956 million tonne estimate to 600 metres.
Further assays for silver, vanadium, germanium and gallium are still pending.
"These results give the Board confidence in a significantly increased mineral resource and supports the Company's statement that we are looking to increase the historical resource at Pit 2 by at least 50%", said chief executive Richard Lloyd.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
ALS Labs has now lab-verified high-grade zinc intersections across all five Phase 1 holes at Pit 2, with peak assayed grades of 25.5–48.5% zinc matching earlier field readings. The company says the results support lifting the 2023 resource estimate by at least 50% — a material expansion of the ore base at a site where the prior NI 43-101 report had defined 1.958 million tonnes of indicated and inferred resource to 300 m depth.
Lab confirmation of wide, high-grade intersections removes a key validation risk and materially strengthens the case for a larger resource at Pit 2. Pending assays for silver, vanadium, germanium and gallium could add further upside if those by-products are present at economic grades.
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