(Alliance News) - African Pioneer PLC on Monday said evidence of copper mineralisation has been found on three targets in drilling conducted by its joint venture partner, First Quantum Minerals Ltd, on several of its Zambian licences.

African Pioneer shares closed 37% higher at 2.80 pence each in London on Monday afternoon.

African Pioneer is an Isle of Man-based, Southern Africa-focused precious metals explorer, with licences in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia.

Its licence package in Zambia covers the north-western extension of the Zambian copper belt, located within 80 to 100 kilometres of the First Quantum Minerals Sentinel copper mine.

First Quantum Minerals, operating under an option agreement with African Pioneer's 80% owned subsidiary African Pioneer Zambia Ltd, discovered copper in veins and disseminations at all the licence prospects tested to date.

Visual estimations ranged from trace to 2.0% copper mineralisation over 75 metres in the TUAC012 hole.

An audio magneto telluric geophysical survey totalling 54.9 line kilometres detected architectural patterns typically associated with Congolese-type copper mineralisation.

African Pioneer said the discovery was an "exciting new exploration concept" in parallel with existing targets.

Its subsidiary has begun deep drilling to ascertain whether the geologic setting is analogous to the Western Foreland project owned by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd in the nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"We are hugely encouraged by the content of the latest joint venture quarterly report from First Quantum Minerals that records the presence of a number of zones of copper mineralisation at surface, apparently showing good continuity and supported by shallow drilling, all of which takes the project closer to a large copper discovery," said Executive Chair Colin Bird.

"We are particularly encouraged by the geologic setting comparison showing analogies to the Kamoa deposit, and we look forward to the results of the current drill programme."

By Holly Beveridge; hollybeveridge@alliancenews.com

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