By: Creamer media

The Maongo copper/gold project comprises a single prospecting concession application covering an area of 269 km2, which is due to be granted shortly. The project contains mining relics, including ore treatment sites, three principal underground development groups and numerous secondary mines that predate the modern Angolan political era.

The site is located in flat, arid terrain with year-round access via an infrastructure corridor that includes the sealed Namibe–Lubango highway, railway and electricity transmission lines. The project is adjacent to the Caraculo solar power station.

“The company previously flagged that it is actively looking for projects that would fit well with our broader strategy, targeting demand-driven metals in Angola. The Maongo project is the first to meet our criteria, where prospectivity for copper and gold is evident in an area with good access, in an uncomplicated operating environment.

“The sites of mining and treatment artifacts were confirmed by company field staff during our due diligence period and concession approval documentation is currently being advanced with the Agência Nacional dos Recursos Minerais (ANRM), Tyranna’s 30% partner OCJAF and the company’s 70% Angolan subsidiary Maongo.

“The concession is expected to be granted during the September 2025 quarter,” Tyranna MD David Crook said on July 14.

The company initiated its project generation initiative in 2024 by appraising projects offered by several Angolan concession holders, as well as reviewing geological datasets from the Geological Institute of Angola and hyperspectral imagery in areas with recognised copper prospectivity, established access and landforms conducive to modern reconnaissance exploration techniques.

The Maongo copper/gold project is situated 25 km north-east of the company’s logistics base in Namibe. Copper and gold mineralisation at the site was first identified in the early twentieth century, with initial mining activity likely completed in the 1920s by Empresa Mineira do Sul de Angola and described by Bebiano in 1926.

The most recent mining was undertaken in the 1960s by Empresa do Maongo Lda and Companhia Mineira do Lobito.

Underground mining operations are clustered into three main groups. The westernmost Vimpongos group includes one of the larger mines in the district, with records indicating an 85-m-deep shaft with four levels, along with other mine-related infrastructure.

The central Maongo group includes remnants of a colonial-era ore-treatment plant, supporting buildings, unprocessed rock dumps, production shafts, galleries, exploration trenches, and the nearby Conango Canpungo workings.

The easternmost Cacimba workings include the Galeria de Santa Bárbara mine and other sites referred to as Chirundue and Pedra Grande. Available production records from these areas are incomplete and sometimes contradictory.

Following completion of negotiations over the mining investment contract with ANRM, immediate work will focus on expanding the known targets at the Vimpongos, Maongo, Conango Canpungo and Cacimba prospects.

Planned activities include geological mapping, soil geochemistry and geophysical surveys. These will be followed by broader exploration programmes, and targets generated will be drilled as they are identified.