KIBARA
Introduction
Infrastructure and Access
The 360 km or so to Kolwezi consist of sealed bitumen roads. The following 250 km of the route is gravel roads and tracks. Travelling time from Lubumbashi airport to site varies between 9 to 12 hrs depending on weather conditions. Lubumbashi, and Kolwezi geographically closer, are the largest cities in former Katanga province, and the commercial hubs for mining operations activity in Katanga.
Geology and Structural Setting of the Property Area
Exposure and access to the bedrock geology in the project area is limited to the artisanal mining sites and a small number of subcrop that were located. The area is heavily forested and mostly covered with a layer of soil or laterite which can be several meters thick in places.
The workings expose lower saprolite after CSA_KMX_Thibumbu AU_Nov-17 Page 7 of 13 weathered meta-sedimentary and probably felsic intrusive rock. The bedrock is deeply oxidised, and leached and have a low rock strength that allows non-mechanised mining. Within the northern pit east-west-striking and steeply north, to sub-vertical dipping meta sedimentary rocks occur throughout. Internal diagnostic rock texture could not be determined confidently. However, the layering in the rock and the uniform grain size within the layers suggest a sedimentary origin.
