South32 has agreed to incorporate two newly acquired tenements in Botswana into its Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) with Noronex, officially designating the area as an Exploration Project.
Originally signed in July 2024, the SAA outlines that South32 will earn a 60% interest in Noronex Exploration and Mining Company by contributing A$15 million over five years to fund exploration activities at Noronex’s Humpback-Damara Project.
In March 2025, Noronex secured two prospecting licences from Botswana’s Department of Mines. These licences cover approximately 1,500 square kilometres of previously unexplored terrain in the Kalahari Copper Belt.
Following this acquisition, Noronex and South32 have begun drafting definitive earn-in and related agreements specific to the Botswana tenements.
Under both the existing Humpback-Damara Project agreement and the proposed Botswana earn-in, South32 is expected to commit A$1 million at the start of each quarter in FY26.
These funds will support drilling, project management, and ongoing exploration across Noronex’s highly prospective landholding.
Recently, representatives from both companies visited the Botswana tenement package to evaluate its exploration potential and conduct technical due diligence.
The review—supported by geological data, previous Damara drilling results, and broader regional analysis—confirmed the area’s significance, prompting South32 to exercise its earn-in right under the SAA.
Meanwhile, exploration continues in Namibia, where Noronex has initiated the first-ever drilling program along the northern margin of the Kalahari Copper Belt.
This area, previously obscured by shallow Kalahari sands, is showing promising signs. Results indicate notable geological similarities to basement-hosted copper deposits found in the Central African Copper Belt across Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Funded under the existing Humpback-Damara earn-in agreement, diamond drilling also continues at the Fiesta Project, located on the western flank of the Humpback tenements.
Positioned along the domal closure of the prospective NPF-D’Kar contact, the area has yielded anomalous intercepts reminiscent of known deposits in eastern Botswana, including the Khoemacau Copper Project (370Mt @ 1.7% CuEq, MMG).
So far, two holes have been completed at Fiesta, though progress has been slower than anticipated due to inclement weather, equipment issues, and water loss.
Two more diamond drill holes are planned in the vicinity. Once drilling at Fiesta concludes, the rig will be mobilized to the newly granted EPL 9876 tenement, located south of the current site, to test additional high-priority targets.
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