Zeus prepares Diaguili drilling after securing 51% Mauritania interest

Diaguili moves from acquisition to drilling

Zeus Resources Limited (ASX:ZEU) has reached the first ownership milestone at its Diaguili copper-gold project in southern Mauritania and is now preparing to test the most compelling target identified so far. The company acquired a 51% interest in Sab Metals Mauritania SARL during October, after completing technical, legal, title and environmental due diligence.

The milestone builds on the first Diaguili acquisition completion, which transferred project management to Zeus and put drilling on the near-term agenda. Zeus has signed Tayssir Drilling for an approximately 1,200-metre maiden diamond programme covering both the new conductor and deeper extensions of the known copper-gold zones. Work is scheduled to begin in November 2026.

Untested conductor becomes the priority target

Reprocessing and three-dimensional modelling of airborne VTEM data has defined a bedrock conductor approximately 1.7 kilometres long and up to 500 metres wide. The response sits around 150 to 170 metres below surface, dips steeply to the north-west and remains open below the survey’s effective depth limit of about 200 metres.

That positioning matters because most of the 49 historical drill holes were shallow: 43 of the 48 holes with recorded depths did not reach 100 metres vertically. The earlier drilling was also located predominantly west of the modelled conductor, meaning the target has not been tested by the historical programme. The company describes it as being beside historical high-grade copper intersections, rather than as a discovery in its own right.

Historical grades carry a substantial qualification

Diaguili’s attraction rests partly on historical results reported in 2014, including 22.25 metres at 2.10% copper from 48 metres and 12.7 metres at 2.94% copper from 60 metres. But Zeus says the original drill chips, core and assay certificates are no longer available. The results were not reported under the JORC 2012 Code, have not been independently validated and do not support a mineral resource, ore reserve or exploration target.

A due diligence visit observed malachite and chrysocolla at several surface locations across the roughly one-kilometre mineralised trend. Those are visual field observations only: they do not establish grade, width, continuity, depth or economic potential. Four rock-chip samples collected across about 1.07 kilometres were awaiting assay results at the time of the report. The upcoming drilling therefore has a confirmatory role as much as an expansionary one.

Placement funds the next test, but permit timing matters

Zeus ended September with A$2.84 million in cash, including a A$765,000 term deposit, after completing a A$2.0 million placement at A$0.006 a share. The Appendix 5B records A$199,000 of relevant quarterly outgoings and estimates 14.3 quarters of funding at that spending rate, although that historical run-rate does not capture the cost of the planned drilling campaign.

The Diaguili permit is currently due to expire on 6 November 2026 and is eligible for a further three-year renewal. Completion of later acquisition tranches, taking Zeus towards its potential 100% interest, is conditional among other things on renewal of the permit. That makes the next few weeks unusually important: the company has a defined drill target and a contractor in place, but the tenure position must remain secure before the exploration story can properly advance.