Aim-listed battery metal exploration and development company Power Metal Resources (PMR) has concluded field activities for a pitting, mapping and sampling programme at its 100% owned cobalt/nickel project in Cameroon.

PMR in 2018 acquired licence interests in south-eastern Cameroon, including four adjacent or near to Geovic Mining’s Nkamouna cobalt/nickel deposit.

Nkamouna is believed to be the largest defined cobalt resource outside the Democratic Republic of Congo and is notable among laterites for its high cobalt to nickel ratio.

Geovic identified and holds seven lateritic plateaus in its 1 250 km² permit area, of which Nkamouna and Mada have been explored, and the 4 km by 2 km Nkamouna deposit is the most defined.

PMR holds licences over nearly 2 000 km2 containing a number of potentially similar plateaus, on which it conducted a preliminary reconnaissance and sampling programme last year but failed to reach the depth at which the target laterised strata might be encountered.  

The rains in this part of Cameroon become too heavy by July to conduct programmes of the type planned by PMR, so a short-notice programme to access the key laterised horizons, enabling samples to be taken, was planned, with two pits in each of three licence areas.

Five pits were dug across three licence areas to depths of between 9 m and 12 m.

The sixth and final pit achieved a depth of 5 m by the time weather conditions forced an end to the programme.

Sixty-five samples have been submitted to the Mississauga Mining and Exploration Cameroon laboratory in Douala for sample preparation and preliminary X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis.

Should results justify it, samples will be sent for further laboratory testing.

All pits encountered the distinct laterite profile that is most likely to be mineralised from average depths of 5 m, which is consistent with depths in the mineralised zones at the adjacent Nkamouna project.

As the objective of the programme was to test the theory that the company’s licence interests would demonstrate geological similarities to the nearby significant Nkamouna deposit, indications so far are positive.

“I am pleased to announce the successful completion of field operations in Cameroon, and our thanks go to the operational team who delivered the programme in a timely and safe manner,” commented PMR executive director Paul Johnson in a statement released on Monday.

“It is extremely encouraging to have all pits encountering the lateritic profile we were targeting and we are looking forward to receipt of the XRF findings, in respect of cobalt/nickel mineralisation, in due course,” he added.

Johnson indicated that, should PMR be able to confirm geological similarity of its licence areas to the nearby Nkamouna deposit, its Cameroon interests become a very important strategic interest for the company.