Aim-listed metals exploration and development company Power Metal Resources, through receipt of assay results, has confirmed high cobalt and copper values at its 70%-owned Kisinka copper/cobalt project, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Kisinka is located about 30 km east of the regional capital of Lubumbashi in the southern part of the Katanga copperbelt.

The next task will be to drill the anomalies.

In addition, Power Metal will also carry out ground geophysics.

The assay results are from a pitting and mapping exploration programme completed earlier this year, from which samples were submitted to ALS Chemex South Africa's laboratory, where the 209 samples underwent multi-element inductively-coupled plasma analysis.

The results show copper values from soils up to 460 ppm in the south-eastern anomalous zone and 276 ppm in the mid-north anomalous zone.

Power Metal CEO Paul Johnson says these laboratory results provide definitive evidence, for the first time, that the project bears significant cobalt, as well as providing confirmation of the extent of the copper targets.

“The prospective ground within the licence area covers an area big enough to contain one or more large orebodies, so we are excited by the potential we have identified.”

He adds that Power Metal's staged exploration of this area has been carefully planned, economical and, so far, “extremely” successful.

“Among the positives that give us particular encouragement are that we have encountered some high values in sampling, that the zones are open in both directions along strike, and that the laterisation and leaching suggest there may be supergene enriched mineralisation present at lower levels.”

With cobalt and copper targets now confirmed, taking Kisinka to the next stage becomes a major priority, says Johnson.

“We will be speeding up our work on the ground. We are also applying for an upgrading of the licence from a Permis de Recherche (exploration licence) to a Permis d’Exploitation (production licence).”

The next steps recommended are a ground magnetic survey and a ground electromagnetic survey, to detect both low magnetic and chargeable lithologies and indicate structures and faulting and areas of carbonate rocks, in order to generate precise drill targets.