Cobre Secures Equinor Research Tie-Up for Botswana Copper Recovery Testing

Cobre advances Botswana copper strategy with Equinor tie-up and strong drill results

Cobre (ASX: CBE) has delivered progress across development, research and partner-funded exploration in the Kalahari Copper Belt on 23 July 2026. The company announced a collaboration agreement with Norwegian energy major Equinor to evaluate in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) parameters at its 100%-owned Ngami Copper Project (NCP), alongside commissioning of the NCP ISCR well field and assay results confirming copper-silver continuity across 800m of strike at the Cosmos Target. The update positions Cobre as holding exposure to two globally significant copper districts — northern Chile’s IOCG Belt (producing Sierra Atacama) and the Kalahari Copper Belt — combining established production, near-term development opportunities and partner-funded exploration upside.

Equinor collaboration adds specialist muscle to the ISCR opportunity

Cobre has signed a collaboration agreement with Equinor, a Norwegian multinational energy company, to evaluate lixiviant performance and in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) parameters for the Ngami Copper Project. Equinor will undertake a series of test programmes to assess lixiviant performance and copper recovery under dynamic flow conditions, supporting the development of a dynamic flow model for NCP mineralisation.

The collaboration gives Cobre access to independent specialist research to further optimise ISCR design and copper recovery at no cost to its 100% ownership of NCP. The announcement does not disclose financial terms of the Equinor agreement.

Equinor brings significant scale and technical capability to the partnership:

• Approximately 25,000 employees across more than 20 countries
• Operations span oil and gas, renewable energy and low-carbon solutions
• Portfolio includes offshore and onshore wind, solar power, and carbon transportation and storage
• Major energy supplier to Europe with projects in the US, Brazil, Angola, the UK and Canada

Cosmos drilling confirms continuity across 800m of strike

Assay results from five diamond holes at NCP’s Cosmos Target have confirmed copper-silver continuity across 800m of strike, with higher-grade zones of ≥1% Cu intersected in every hole. The results demonstrate the presence of higher-grade vein-hosted chalcocite zones within broader foliation-hosted chalcocite mineralisation.

The Cosmos Target sits within the NCP Exploration Target, estimated at 205–308 Mt @ 0.31–0.46% Cu & 5.5–8.3 g/t Ag, and is located 8km along strike from the Comet Deposit (11.5 Mt @ 0.52% Cu & 11.6 g/t Ag indicated and inferred). The potential quality and grade of the Exploration Target is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and there is no certainty that further exploration work will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource.

The higher-grade zones support confidence in the continuity of mineralisation and highlight the potential for thicker, higher-grade portions of the system to support conventional underground mining studies, while also strengthening the case for a broader ISCR development pathway across NCP.

What is in-situ copper recovery, and why it matters

In-situ copper recovery (ISCR) is a method of extracting copper by circulating a leaching solution (lixiviant) through fractured, mineralised rock below the water table, rather than conventional open-pit or underground mining. The lixiviant dissolves copper from the rock, which is then pumped to the surface for recovery.

NCP is considered suitable for ISCR due to its chalcocite-dominant mineralisation along cleavages and fractures, located below the water table, which is amenable to acid leaching. The approach offers a potentially lower capital and environmental footprint pathway to production compared to conventional mining methods.

Two analogous ISCR projects in Arizona provide scale benchmarks for NCP:

• Taseko’s Florence Copper Deposit: 320 Mt @ 0.36% Cu
• Copper Fox’s Van Dyke Deposit: 265.6 Mt @ 0.29% Cu

Both deposits share a similar scale to NCP and demonstrate the technical viability of ISCR for sediment-hosted copper systems.

NCP well field commissioning marks step toward demonstration plant

Commissioning of the NCP ISCR well field has commenced, with initial water-injection and flow-testing programmes underway. Community engagement for the proposed ISCR demonstration plant has been completed as part of the ongoing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

The development logic follows a staged approach:

1. The well field is the first stage of Cobre’s planned ISCR demonstration plant.
2. Initial results will feed hydrogeological test work and project de-risking.
3. The well field will progress to active copper-silver recovery using the same infrastructure.
4. The demonstration plant is expected to underpin further resource drilling and feasibility studies.

The well field represents a key milestone on the pathway to potential NCP production, though no production decision has been made.

Partner-funded exploration extends reach at OCP and Kitlanya

Sinomine backs second round of drilling at OCP

Follow-up target drilling has commenced at the Okavango Copper Project (OCP) in partnership with Sinomine. Phase 3 drilling intersected anomalous copper in five of nine holes, identifying three priority follow-up areas along strike from MMG’s Zone 5 North, Zone 5 and Plutus deposits.

Sinomine has agreed to extend its initial A$1.5 million investment to include a second round of target drilling at OCP. Standout OCP hits from Phase 3 include:

• OCP15: 0.43m @ 1.42% Cu & 0.9 g/t Ag
• OCP19: 5.22m @ 0.34% Cu & 4.5 g/t Ag
• OCP21: 8.14m @ 0.15% Cu & 1.14 g/t Ag

The anomalous copper mineralisation intersected to date is interpreted to represent part of the halo of a mineralising system. The next phase of drilling will test this interpretation and assess the potential footprint and vectors towards higher-grade copper-silver mineralisation.

OCP covers 1,363 km² immediately northeast of MMG’s Zone 5 hub (166 Mt @ 2.0% Cu & 26 g/t Ag — peer reference, not Cobre’s resource).

BHP-funded seismic interpretation sets up drill targets

The Kitlanya East and West projects are funded through a US$25m (~A$40m) earn-in option with BHP (refer 10 March 2025 announcement). 2D seismic processing and first-pass interpretation have now been completed, with follow-up target drilling planned.

The BHP and Sinomine partnerships give Cobre high-impact discovery upside without carrying the full exploration cost, allowing the company to maintain focus on advancing its producing Sierra Atacama Copper Project in Chile while leveraging partner capital for exploration across the broader Kalahari Copper Belt portfolio.

Adam Wooldridge, Chief Executive Officer

“While the Company has remained highly focused on advancing operations at the producing Sierra Atacama Copper Project in Chile, our Botswana programmes have continued to deliver strong progress.”

What comes next for Cobre

The company has outlined the following near-term priorities for its Botswana portfolio:

1. Complete the EIA and progress the ISCR demonstration plant at NCP
2. Further drilling to expand the NCP Exploration Target
3. Second-round Sinomine-funded target drilling at OCP
4. BHP-funded target drilling at Kitlanya and NCP

The two-district investment thesis is now clearly defined: a producing Chilean asset (Sierra Atacama) providing cash flow, near-term development optionality in Botswana via the NCP ISCR pathway, and partner-funded exploration upside across the Kalahari Copper Belt. Further work does not guarantee resource definition or production outcomes, but the progression of multiple parallel workstreams positions Cobre to advance discovery and development across both jurisdictions.

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