Moab Minerals (ASX: MOM) has entered a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Imbas Mining Pty Ltd, which holds the right to earn up to 80% ownership of the Sasare Gold and Copper Project in eastern Zambia. The 51 square-kilometre licence covers multiple gold and copper prospects interpreted under an IOCG exploration model.
Completion of the acquisition is subject to shareholder approval and a capital raising of at least A$1.5 million. The acquisition consideration totals 700 million Moab shares, plus up to 300 million deferred shares upon the company earning its 51% interest, and an additional A$500,000 in shares if Moab achieves a market capitalisation above A$20 million within 12 months.
Through Imbas’ Zambian subsidiary, Moab will assume the rights and obligations under a joint-venture agreement with Alinafe WB Investment, owner of the Sasare licence. The staged earn-in allows Imbas Zambia to reach 51% ownership upon a US$700,000 payment before February 2025, and 80% ownership once it delineates an inferred resource of at least 1.4 million tonnes at 1.2% copper and pays a further US$1 million. Alinafe will retain a 20% free-carry through to a definitive feasibility study, convertible later to a 1.5% net smelter royalty.
Historic Mine and Multiple Targets
The Sasare project lies about 370 kilometres east-northeast of Lusaka along the Mwembeshi shear zone, a regional structure known to host gold and copper deposits. The area includes the historic Sasare Gold Mine, which produced about 12,500 troy ounces between 1906 and 1942.
Exploration data from African Eagle Resources, collected between 2003 and 2011, shows strong copper intercepts across several targets. At the Mweze prospect, highlights include 52 metres at 2.72% copper from surface in hole SMD2 and 65 metres at 0.70% copper from 24 metres in hole MZR8, with internal high-grade sections up to 2.39% copper. Hole MZR11 cut 9 metres at 2.50% copper from 138 metres, while MZR25 returned 23 metres at 0.99% copper from 54 metres, including a 21-metre interval at 1.06% copper.
The Eagle Eye prospect also yielded strong assays such as 3 metres at 3.00% copper from 21 metres in EER3 and 8 metres at 1.51% copper from 54 metres in EER12. Historic trenching confirmed oxide mineralisation over several hundred metres, with the MZT2A trench recording 7 metres at 4.01% copper from surface.
Exploration Potential and Targets
Moab declared an exploration target for Sasare’s gold zone of 31 to 41 million tonnes grading 0.8 to 1.7 grams-per-tonne gold, for a potential 0.8 to 2.3 million ounces of contained metal. The copper exploration target for Mweze is 14 to 106 million tonnes grading 0.7 to 1.6% copper, containing between 0.2 and 0.7 million tonnes of copper.
Upcoming work programs will include soil and rock-chip geochemistry, drone-based mapping, and initial drilling beneath the historic Sasare adit and down-dip extensions at Mweze. Early drilling will test continuity of mineralisation over a 350-metre strike, which remains open at depth.
Management Says
Moab Managing Director Malcolm Day said: Whilst the Sasare gold mine produced about 12,500 ounces before 1942, we believe there is considerable scope to discover an economic gold resource in the immediate area. Separately, about five kilometres north, historic drilling for copper produced exciting intercepts that the company intends to follow up.”
The project provides Moab with an additional African asset alongside its Manyoni Uranium Project in Tanzania and Highline Copper-Cobalt Project in Nevada, broadening exposure to critical metals across three jurisdictions.
