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Prospect Resources (ASX: PSC) is stepping up its push to unlock the growth potential of its Mumbezhi Copper Project in Zambia, with an expanded drilling campaign targeting both resource addition and confidence needed to move the project towards development studies.
In the latest project update, Prospect Resources’ Resource Development Manager James Winch provides a further update from site at Mumbezhi, taking investors through the progress of the Phase 3 drilling program, the emerging geological model at Nyungu Central and exploration results from Sharamba and Nyungu South. The Phase 3 program has now been increased to 22,200 metres, with almost 12,000 metres now completed and drilling advancing beyond the halfway mark. The campaign is now around borehole 53, with drilling continuing at Nyungu Central and across a series of regional targets.
A key change to the program has been the addition of 6,000 metres of infill diamond drilling at Nyungu Central. That work is directly tied to Prospect’s development plans, with the company planning a Scoping Study in the fourth quarter of 2026 and targeting its results for the first quarter of 2027.
The strategy is effectively running on two tracks: increase confidence in the tonnes already identified at Nyungu Central whilst continuing to evaluate whether the deposit is larger than the current resource suggests.
Recent drilling has provided encouragement on the second front. At Nyungu Central, Phase 3 drilling has returned broad copper intersections outside the existing Mineral Resource boundary, including 44 metres at 0.60% copper and 17 metres at 0.57% copper. The results are helping to demonstrate orebody continuity beyond the previously modelled extent, with follow-up drilling now testing how far the mineralisation extends.
Prospect believes the drilling is also beginning to reveal something important about the architecture of the orebody. A sheath-fold structure has now been identified extending around 140 metres beyond the existing Mineral Resources at Nyungu Central. Follow-up drilling is testing whether that structure could host further mineralisation and add sizeable tonnes to the potential pit inventory.
The company is also looking well beyond the central deposit. A further 5,000 metres of drilling is planned around Nyungu Central, including resource expansion work at Nyungu West and Nyungu South, while around 6,000 metres is allocated to regional targets including Sharamba, Kabikupa, Chipimpa and Kamafamba.
At Sharamba, the first drilling has identified sulphide-mineralised graphitic schist containing visible pyrite and chalcopyrite, highlighting the potential of the target. Prospect has fast-tracked the first two holes to Intertek in Perth for analysis, with a rapid turnaround expected to help determine the significance and potential of what has been identified to date.
Prospect’s May 2026 resource update put Mumbezhi at 208.1 million tonnes at 0.42% copper, or 0.49% copper equivalent, containing around 877,000 tonnes of copper. Nearly 35% of the resource was classified as Indicated, providing the foundation for the current infill campaign and future studies.
With drilling now advancing across the main Nyungu deposits, a new extension identified beyond the conceptual pit shell and regional targets being tested for the first time, the next stage of Mumbezhi is about establishing how much additional mineralisation and confidence the program can deliver ahead of the planned 2027 Scoping Study.
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