Key Highlights

  • The best intercept from the first eight RC holes was 14 metres at 3.86% copper and 7.5g/t silver from 60 metres.
  • Step-out drilling at Spaatzu returned 15 metres at 1.2% copper and 69.9g/t silver from 73 metres.
  • Spaatzu now extends at least 1.6 kilometres, with assays pending for 17 more holes.
  • Initial resource estimates for Deblin and Spaatzu are expected in the March quarter of 2027.

Midas Minerals (ASX:MM1) reported first drilling results from the Hartbeespoort prospect at its Otavi Copper Project in Namibia on 9 November 2026. Hartbeespoort lies about 5 kilometres south-east of the Deblin deposit.

The best intercept from the first eight reverse circulation (RC) holes was 14 metres at 3.86% copper and 7.5 grams per tonne silver from 60 metres. Hole HBRC003 returned 3 metres at 2.73% copper and 1.5g/t gold from 35 metres.

Midas has drilled 47 holes for 3,427 metres over 3 kilometres of strike at Hartbeespoort, so the eight reported holes represent a small share of the programme. Assays for a further 39 holes are expected in the December quarter.

Spaatzu grows

At the Spaatzu deposit, step-out drilling returned 15 metres at 1.2% copper and 69.9g/t silver from 73 metres in hole SPRC112. Midas says Spaatzu now extends at least 1.6 kilometres, with assays pending for 17 more holes.

A busy drilling campaign

Eight rigs are operating across Otavi, including three diamond rigs at Deblin and two at the T-13 deposit. Midas plans follow-up drilling at Hartbeespoort once a rig becomes available.

The company says its first-pass programme targeted mineralisation visible at surface and in geochemical data, and that the results have confirmed those indications. Managing Director Mark Calderwood said the drilling had located significant shallow, high-grade copper, gold and silver mineralisation.

Why Otavi is drawing attention

Namibia's Otavi Mountainland has a long history of copper, lead and zinc mining, including the historic Tsumeb mine. Shallow copper mineralisation can be attractive because it may be amenable to open-pit mining, and oxide copper, if present, can sometimes be processed by leaching. Midas has not yet released metallurgical results that would show which processing route suits each deposit.

Copper's role in electrification has also increased interest from investors in early-stage African copper projects with clear paths to resource definition.

Resource timetable

Midas expects initial mineral resource estimates for Deblin and Spaatzu, and an updated estimate for T-13, in the March quarter of 2027. Those estimates would provide the first consolidated picture of the project's scale.

Hartbeespoort is not part of that timetable and would need further drilling before it could contribute to a resource.

Qualifications

Results from eight holes cannot establish continuity over 3 kilometres of strike. The pending 39 holes will be a more meaningful test, and some may return lower grades.

The scale of the drilling effort at Otavi also stands out for a company of Midas's size. Running eight rigs concurrently allows a junior to generate large volumes of data quickly, which can accelerate resource estimation and help build investor interest. However, it also places pressure on assay laboratories, and turnaround times in southern Africa can stretch during busy periods. The flow of results over the coming months will show whether that pace can be maintained. The company has positioned Otavi as a project with multiple deposits within trucking distance of one another, and a central processing concept would depend on enough tonnes and grade being defined across those deposits to justify the capital.

What comes next

The next milestones are the remaining Hartbeespoort and Spaatzu assays, follow-up drilling at Hartbeespoort, and the March quarter resource estimates. Midas also holds gold, nickel-copper-PGE and lithium interests in Western Australia and Canada, but Otavi is clearly its main focus at present.

If the pending holes support the early results, Hartbeespoort could become another source of shallow copper within a broader Otavi development concept.