At present, the country’s sole gold mine is Mupane where work has been suspended since March due to financial constraints. North Arrow last week announced that it had successfully raised $2.2 million as part of earning a 60% equity interest in the Kraaipan Gold Project whose licences are held by Rockman Resources. The Kraaipan prospecting area is in the country’s south to south-east and measures 1,400 square kilometres covering the extension of goldfields that extend into South Africa. Under North Arrow’s agreement with Rockman, the Canadian firm can earn a 60% interest in the Kraaipan Gold Project by incurring $5 million in exploration expenditures over three years.
Under the deal, $1 million of this should be spent on exploration by no later than June 30, 2025, as a firm commitment, with an additional $2 million in exploration expenditure by no later than June 30, 2026. Another $2 million should be spent on exploration expenditures by no later than June 30, 2027. North Arrow raised the recent $2.2 million through a private placement involving the issuance of 11,000,000 units for $0.20 per unit. In a statement to investors, Ken Armstrong, the president and CEO of North Arrow, said with the closing of the financing, North Arrow is fully funded to advance its year-one plans to evaluate the underexplored, 60-kilometre northern extension of the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt in Botswana. He described Botswana as a top-tier jurisdiction for mining and exploration investment.
“Exploration activities are focused on the discovery of gold mineralisation within prospective iron formation units extending beneath Kalahari Desert sand cover and will benefit from Rockman's in-country technical team and exploration technologies," he said. The Kraaipan Greenstone Belt (KGB) straddles the Botswana-South Africa border, with proven mineral endowment including Harmony Gold's Kalgold Gold Mine in South Africa, approximately 40km south of the Kraaipan Gold Project. Past exploration of the northern extent of the KGB has been challenged by the Kalahari Desert sand cover, impacting approximately 80% of the KGB within Botswana. The sand cover, while extensive, is typically less than 20 metres over much of the project but can locally reach depths of up to 70 metres.
