Project Steppe-42
This is an invented example. It is not a real project and not an offer.
Summary
An invented example of a gold-copper porphyry at the discovery-drilling stage in Central Kazakhstan. Three seasons of drilling, 40 holes for about 11,500 m, hit a broad stockwork of quartz veins in most holes. The best intercepts are long and low to moderate grade, the typical pattern of a porphyry system near surface.
The holes are 80 to 200 m apart, too far apart for a resource estimate. The owner is looking for about $4 million of project-level equity to fund infill drilling, first metallurgical tests and a maiden JORC resource.
The data room is open to any signed-in user, without an NDA. Its viewer shows the drill holes, soil samples, geology map, 3D surfaces and a block model. This listing is illustrative and does not describe a real project.
- 40 drill holes for about 11,500 m, diamond and RC, 2021–2023
- Gold-copper stockwork intersected in 31 of the 40 holes
- Best hole: 186 m at 0.82 g/t gold and 0.31% copper from 42 m
- 1.6 km soil anomaly, open to the north-east under thin cover
- Sealed road 18 km away; grid power line crosses the licence
History. Soviet-era geologists mapped copper staining and old workings in the area in the 1960s and drilled six shallow holes in 1978, which found low-grade copper but were never assayed for gold. The ground then lay idle. The current owner applied for the exploration licence in 2020 after reviewing the archive, was granted it in March 2021, and has since run a soil survey, ground magnetics and induced polarisation, and three drill seasons.
Stage classification
Stage 2: Discovery drilling, 40 holes hit, too widely spaced for a resource
In short: Drilling has found a gold-copper porphyry system: most of the 40 holes intersected stockwork mineralisation. The holes are still too far apart to estimate tonnes and grade, which keeps Steppe-42 in stage 2, towards its end.
What puts it at this stage
- 40 diamond and RC holes for about 11,500 m, drilled 2021–2023
- Mineralisation intersected in 31 of the 40 holes, over a zone about 900 m long and 400 m wide
- Modern data with certified standards, blanks and duplicates, assayed at an accredited laboratory
What keeps it from stage 3
- Hole spacing of 80 to 200 m is too wide for a resource estimate
- No density measurements or metallurgical testwork yet
- No resource under any reporting code
What would move it up
- About 9,000 m of infill drilling at 50 m spacing, density and metallurgical tests, then a maiden JORC resource (stage 2 to 3). This is what the deal funds.
What could move it back
- If infill holes show the higher-grade core is narrower or less continuous than the wide holes suggest, the resource may be too low-grade to be economic
Read about stage 2 or see the full stage guide.
- Stage 1: GrassrootsMapping and surface sampling, up to the first drill holes.Prospectors, junior explorers
- Stage 2: Discovery drillingDrilling has intersected mineralization; no resource estimate yet.Junior explorers
- Stage 3: Maiden resourceFrom the first resource estimate up to a published PEA.Few natural funders (the gap)
- Stage 4: Resource upgradeFrom the PEA to the PFS: infill drilling upgrades Inferred to Indicated.Few natural funders (the gap)
- Stage 5: Pre-developmentFrom the PFS to the build decision: Measured drilling, the feasibility study, permits and financing.Mid-tier miners, strategic partners
- Stage 6: Development and productionFrom the build decision through construction and ramp-up to an operating mine.Majors, banks, streaming and royalty companies
Title and ownership
100% held by the owner · 2 encumbrances · title: stated by the owner
Who holds the ground, how much of it is on offer, and what already sits over it.
- Licence
- Exploration licence
- Area
- 25 km²
- Licence expiry
- 2030
- Owner's share
- 100%
- Title
- Stated by the owner
- Renewal
- Six-year term to 2027, extendable once to 2030; conversion to a mining licence can be applied for during the term
- Work commitments
- Minimum annual exploration spend set in the licence work programme; the owner reports spend above the minimum for 2021–2025
- Encumbrances
- Royalty: 1% net smelter return royalty to the vendor of the Soviet-era data package
- Other: Kazakhstan's state pre-emptive right over transfers of subsoil-use rights; consent is needed for any sale of the licence or a stake in it
- Disputes
- None known
Licence numbers and the owner's name are not published.
Location and access
Central Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan · Sealed regional road 18 km away
The shaded circle is deliberately imprecise. Exact locations and licence numbers are not published.
- Sealed regional road 18 km away; graded track to the camp
- Rail siding about 65 km away, on the line to Karaganda
- A 35 kV grid power line crosses the southern part of the licence
- Regional centre with an airport and services about 140 km by road
Geology and resources
40 holes, 11,500 m drilled · no resource yet
What is in the ground, how well it has been tested, and how confident the estimate is.
A gold-copper porphyry system around a quartz-feldspar porphyry stock that intrudes Devonian siltstones and andesitic volcanic rocks. Mineralisation is a stockwork of quartz-magnetite-chalcopyrite veins with pyrite, strongest in a potassic core about 400 m across and fading outwards into a pyrite-rich halo. Oxidation reaches 20 to 40 m below surface. A north-east-trending fault cuts the eastern side of the system.
Best results
- ST008: 186 m at 0.82 g/t gold and 0.31% copper from 42 m, including 38 m at 1.64 g/t gold and 0.52% copper
- ST014: 142 m at 0.71 g/t gold and 0.27% copper from 18 m
- ST022: 96 m at 0.94 g/t gold and 0.22% copper from 110 m
- ST031: 64 m at 0.58 g/t gold and 0.35% copper from 205 m, ending in mineralisation
- Soil grid: a 1.6 km by 0.6 km gold-copper anomaly above 40 ppb gold, open to the north-east
As reported by the owner. Best results are, by definition, not typical of the whole project.
Drilling
- Holes and metres
- 40 holes, 11,500 m
- Years drilled
- 2021–2023
- Methods
- Diamond core, Reverse circulation (RC)
- Hole depths
- 150–480 m
- Hole spacing
- 80–200 m
- Historical share
- 0% of metres drilled before modern codes
- Quality control
- Certified reference standards and blanks inserted every 20 samples, field duplicates every 40. Fire assay for gold (50 g charge) and four-acid ICP for copper at an accredited laboratory in Almaty. Collars surveyed by differential GPS; downhole surveys every 30 m. One hole (ST017) was not surveyed downhole and is treated as vertical.
Resources
No resource estimate yet. The typical next step is enough drilling for a maiden resource. See the odds and costs
Exploration upside
The system is open at depth: hole ST031 ended in mineralisation at 269 m. The soil anomaly continues north-east under thin sand cover where no holes have been drilled, and an induced-polarisation chargeability high 1.2 km to the south has not been tested.
Engineering and reserves
PEA planned (2028) · no reserves
Studies are events: reserves exist only once a pre-feasibility or feasibility study is published.
Studies
Preliminary economic assessment (PEA)Planned, 2028
Planned after a maiden resource. The owner expects to study an open pit with conventional flotation for a copper-gold concentrate, and heap leaching of the oxide cap.
Metallurgy
- Notes
- No testwork yet. Coarse rejects from six holes are stored for first bottle-roll and flotation tests.
Reserves
No reserves. Reserves need at least a published pre-feasibility study.
Permitting and social licence
2 granted · 1 in progress · 2 not started (of 8 steps)
The approvals a mine needs, in the usual order. Early projects only need the first few.
- Granted
Exploration permits
Exploration licence with an approved work programme; drilling notified to the regional authority each season
- Granted
Surface rights and land access
Temporary land-use agreement with the district for the drill area and camp
- Not started
Environmental baseline studies
Planned to start alongside infill drilling
- Not yet required
Environmental impact assessment
Needed before conversion to a mining licence
- Not yet required
Mining licence or concession
Can be applied for during the exploration term after a reserve report
- Not started
Water rights for operations
The steppe is dry; a groundwater search is part of the next programme
- In progress
Community and Indigenous agreements
Informal engagement with the district administration and herder families since 2021
- Not yet required
Other approvals
Protected areas, heritage, power connection, tailings design, closure plan and bond.
Environment and community
Open steppe used for seasonal grazing; two herder winter camps about 6 km from the drill area. No protected areas or recorded heritage sites inside the licence. Water for drilling is trucked from a licensed borehole. Informal meetings with the district administration and herders since 2021; no baseline studies yet.
The checklist is general. Exact steps vary by country. Draft, pending review.
Deal and use of funds
Equity or project financing / Joint venture or earn-in · about $4M
What the owner is offering and what the money pays for.
What is offered
30% stake for $4MOption 1: Equity or project financing
Project-level equity in the licence-holding company, for a 30% stake.
51% interest for $9M of spendingOption 2: Joint venture or earn-in
The partner earns 51% by spending $9M over 4 years. The partner, after earning 51%.
Use of funds
| Activity | Amount | What it achieves |
|---|---|---|
| Infill drilling, about 9,000 m diamond and RC at 50 m spacing | $2.4M | Enough data density for an Inferred and part-Indicated resource |
| Density measurements and first metallurgical testwork | $0.4M | Recoveries for oxide and sulphide material |
| Maiden resource estimate under the JORC Code | $0.3M | First code-compliant resource |
| Ground geophysics and 3,000 m of scout drilling on the north-east and south targets | $0.6M | Test for a second centre in the system |
| Environmental baseline start, community work and licence holding costs | $0.4M | Licence in good standing; baseline under way for a future mining licence |
| Total | $4M |
Indicative terms from the owner. Not an offer. Any deal is subject to due diligence and final documentation.
Source of the information
Provided by the owner, not verified by Lode Exchange
Everything in this listing and its data room comes from the owner. Lode Exchange does not verify licences, technical data or the owner’s claims. Do your own due diligence.
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