By: OrePulse

Koryx Copper has launched its first diamond drilling program in Zambia, starting before the end of September at its Luanshya West project in the country's Copperbelt Province, as the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed explorer also moves to increase its ownership of the venture.

Drilling at Luanshya West will total 2,500 meters across three to four targets. The inclined holes will test structural targets alongside anomalies identified through surface geochemistry and induced-polarization surveying, reaching vertical depths of between 100 and 250 meters. Koryx expects the work to wrap up by mid-December.

At the nearby Mpongwe project, the company is carrying out infill and follow-up soil sampling across three earlier-identified targets, named Lwabufubu, MP1 and MP2, together with regional sampling across the western part of its license area. Around 3,000 samples are due to be collected by early November. Koryx said that, depending on those results and seasonal conditions, shallow drilling at Mpongwe could begin later this year or be deferred to 2027.

Alongside the exploration work, Koryx has raised its stake in Koryx Copper Zambia to 80% from 51%, under an amended agreement with joint-venture partner World Class Mineral Ventures. The revised terms also remove contractual spending commitments that Koryx had carried under the previous ownership split, giving the company a larger interest in the Zambian assets without the funding obligations that came with its smaller stake.

Chief executive Heye Daun said the targets chosen for drilling were defined through "detailed magnetic surveying, soil sampling and pitting" carried out ahead of the program. He added that the company's Haib copper project in Namibia remains its main priority even as activity in Zambia picks up pace.

The two Zambian projects mark Koryx's first drill-ready exploration campaign in the country since it entered the joint venture, and the enlarged ownership stake gives the company greater direct exposure to any discoveries that follow from the current round of drilling and sampling.