PROSPECT Resources Ltd, an Australian mining company, has announced the suspension of exploration activities at its Bikita Gem and Step Aside Lithium projects in Zimbabwe due to underwhelming results and a shift in strategic priorities.
The company had turned its focus to these lithium ventures after selling its flagship Arcadia Lithium Mine to Huayou Cobalt in 2022 for US$378 million.
The Bikita Gem project is located within the Masvingo Greenstone Belt, while the Step Aside asset covers 100 hectares in the Harare Greenstone Belt, 35 km from the capital city.
In its third-quarter exploration update, Prospect confirmed it had halted operations at both sites.
“Prospect completed a total of 26 RC (reverse circulation) drill holes for 1 266m at Bikita Gem during August on four separate pegmatites, holding potential for concentrations of high quality, low diluent petalite,” the mining firm said.
“The programme failed to define suitable economic volumes of petalite-rich mineralisation near surface and the project works have now been discontinued and all technical data generated has been returned to the original vendors of the lithium asset.”
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The firm had hoped that proximity to the well-established Bikita Lithium Mine would yield promising exploration results.
Regarding the Step Aside project, Prospect indicated it would be seeking to “monetise” the asset in 2025.
“Exploration activities at Step Aside have now ceased and expenditure has been pared back to minimum holding commitments,” Prospect said.
“Prospect will instigate a process to potentially monetise the lithium asset in early 2025 and has prepared and has collated a digital data room with all supporting technical, logistical and legal documentation pertaining to the project, for this purpose.”
The company noted that historical regional stream and soil geochemistry data, alongside recent infill work, had confirmed the potential of Step Aside, where lithium mineralisation is primarily hosted in spodumene-bearing pegmatites that intrude a meta-dolerite host rock.
Despite the positive indications, Prospect is now redirecting its focus to Zambia. Earlier this year, it acquired an 85% interest in the Mumbezhi Copper Project, situated in the Central African Copperbelt in north-western Zambia.
“The Mumbezhi Copper project is situated in the world-class Central African Copperbelt region of north-western Zambia and located on a single Large Scale Exploration Licence… covering an area of approximately 356 square kilometres,” the report reads in part. “The area is prospective for large tonnage, low to medium grade copper deposits.”