Analysts at BMO Capital Markets and Red Cloud Securities say Koryx Copper (TSXV: KRY; US-OTC: KRYXF) is quickly emerging as one of Africa’s most attractive red metal development stories after the company announced another round of extensive drilling intersections at its Haib project in southern Namibia on Monday.
Highlights of 15 backfill holes totaling 5,351 meters in the Hype area include hole HM138. It covered 584 meters of surface grading grading 0.3% copper, 42 ppm molybdenum and 0.04 grams gold per tonne. Hole HM149 returned 428 meters from the surface grading 0.31% copper, 56 ppm molybdenum and 0.027 grams gold.
The drilling aims to upgrade the tons extracted from the resource in March to the indicated category before the feasibility study expected at the end of this year. The company aims to obtain environmental approval in 2027.
“While Koryx previously released a Initial economic evaluationThe updated resource supports a larger operation, BMO mining analyst Rene Cartier said in a note Tuesday. “We see a limited amount of copper projects in high-quality African jurisdictions that can provide more than 100,000 tons per year of copper equivalent, increasing the scarcity premium for Haib.”
Twin Hills
Koryx leads the team behind Osino Mining, which discovered and developed the Twin Hills gold project in central Namibia before selling the company for $368 million (US$259 million) to China’s Shanjin International Gold in 2024. Analysts say the experience, combined with Haib’s scale, existing infrastructure and the project’s rapid progress towards a pre-feasibility study, strengthens the case for one of Africa’s next big copper mines.
Koryx Copper shares rose 3.4% to $3.38 per share by midday Tuesday in Toronto, valuing the company at $411 million. They have traded in a 52-week range of 96 cents to $3.90.
Other test highlights include drill hole HM 153, which cut 714 meters of grading surface grading 0.26% copper, 101 ppm molybdenum and 0.018 grams gold. Drill hole HMRC001 returned 243 meters grading 0.35% copper, 98 ppm molybdenum and 0.02 grams gold.
“The extensive, near-surface intercepts enhance deposit size and grade continuity and represent a meaningful step toward resource conversion,” Ron Stewart, a mining analyst at Red Cloud Securities, said in a note Tuesday. “The plan is to develop a large-scale conventional open pit mine to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates using sulphide flotation, with the potential to obtain additional copper cathode from oxide heap leaching.”
Orange River
The Hype project is located about 700 kilometers south of the Namibian capital, Windhoek, near the South African border. It is located near the Orange River, where the water source will be.
The March resource identified 744 million measured and marked tonnes grading 0.28% copper, 63 ppm molybdenum and 0.02 gram gold. It contains 579 inferred tonnes grading 0.24% copper, 66 ppm molybdenum and 0.02 grams gold.
Cartier initiated BMO’s coverage of Koryx with an outperform rating and a $6 price target on the stock.
The analyst also highlighted the company’s valuation, noting that Koryx trades lower than similar copper developers despite a strong balance sheet, about $66 million in cash and an experienced management team with a track record of building and selling mining companies.
Red Cloud reiterated a buy rating and $5 price target on the stock, saying the results reinforce its upside and de-risking resource plan.
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