Key highlights

• Jacaranda Natural Resources has identified a previously unexplored copper trend at its Motloutse Project in Botswana.

• Rock-chip samples returned grades of up to 2% copper, which the company announced to the ASX on 2 November.

• The company is sequencing its first drilling rig, having listed on the ASX in late October.

Jacaranda Natural Resources (ASX:JRL), which listed on the ASX in late October, has identified a previously unexplored copper trend at its Motloutse Project in Botswana. The company told the ASX on 2 November that rock-chip samples had returned grades of up to 2% copper, and that it is targeting maiden drilling at the project between December 2026 and February 2027.

The field team collected 23 rock-chip samples in September, with assays completed by SGS South Africa. Twelve samples returned more than 1% copper, while the lowest result was 0.14%. A laboratory repeat of the peak sample returned 2.09% copper.

The Tlou discovery

The new trend, named Tlou, extends about 50 metres along a near north-south structure. Eight of the 12 samples collected from the trend returned more than 1% copper. Samples from five other historical pits, Mongana, Ngwato, Kingsley, Bull and Janelle, returned up to 1.4% copper. Together, the results confirm copper at surface across an area of roughly 1.4 kilometres by one kilometre, alongside a float sample grading 1.93% copper.

Rock chips are selective samples. They show that copper is present, often in the most visibly mineralised rock, but they do not indicate grade over a mineable width or depth. A 50-metre trend is also a small feature in exploration terms, although it may extend under cover.

What the mineralogy suggests

Mineralisation at Tlou occurs within a coarse-grained granitic intrusion, with the copper minerals malachite, azurite and chrysocolla disseminated through the rock and along fractures. These are oxide copper minerals that typically form near surface when primary sulphides weather.

Silver ranges from 1.6 to 18.8 grams per tonne, while gold is at background levels and nickel and cobalt grades are low. The host rock has a pink colour first interpreted as potassium-related alteration, but preliminary geochemistry does not establish a direct link between potassium enrichment and copper.

A broader exploration model

Jacaranda says the results may indicate a structurally controlled hydrothermal copper-silver system. That would broaden its exploration model beyond the magmatic copper-nickel sulphide target it had previously focused on. In practice, this means drilling could test two different styles of mineralisation, which increases the chances of finding something but also complicates targeting.

Botswana's Kalahari Copper Belt has seen significant discoveries in recent years, and the country is generally regarded by miners as a stable jurisdiction. Motloutse's geology may differ from that belt, so comparisons should be made cautiously.

Sequencing the rig

The company is completing its maiden drilling programme at the Globe Gold Project, which it reported to the ASX on 30 October, before moving the rig to Motloutse. Chief executive Craig Hatch said the team identified the new trend en route to assessing historical trenches, and that the assays confirmed field observations.

Early days for a new listing

As a recently listed explorer, it is likely to rely on initial public offering funds for its first programmes.

What to watch

Key items include results from the Globe drilling, the design of the Motloutse programme and first assays from drilling in early 2027. No mineral resource exists at Motloutse.

From rock chips to drill targets

The usual steps after encouraging rock chips are mapping, soil or Geophysical surveys to trace mineralisation beneath cover, followed by drilling. Jacaranda's timetable suggests it intends to move quickly to drilling, using its field observations and assays. Oxide copper at surface sometimes overlies primary sulphides at depth, and testing for that transition will likely be key for the first holes. If the mineralisation proves to be confined to near-surface oxides, the scale potential may be limited.