Hana Mining says with more advanced infrastructure now and higher metal prices being fetched in the marketplace, the Ghantsi zone is potentially a large, target-rich area with already well-established, economically significant mineralisation.

"Currently, Hana is progressing with its 10,000-meter drill programme," says the statement signed by the company's President, Peter Wilson. "We've completed 20 holes and have assayed and released the results of seven of those.

"Historically, Anglo and Delta Gold have owned the property and we are now defining mineralisation on that property."

The company says to-date, just 3,400 meters of that 10,000-meter drill programme have been completed, so the goal for 2008 is obvious - more drilling, more assays and more news about what's in the ground.

"Past exploration shows there is known mineralisation and we are expanding that (historical knowledge) with six main targets," Wilson says.

"Our goal is to develop three or more deposits of 15 to 20 million (metric) tons each, grading 1.3 percent to 1.5 percent copper and up to 25 or 30 grams of silver."

"We think we have a very large project to work with here, and we can probably move to pre-feasibility studies on one of the six targets by the second quarter."

According to Wilson, with its four decades of democratic rule, no world debt and the fact that it is the world's largest diamond producer, Botswana is one of the safest mining environments in Africa. 

In other words, the government has created strong mining laws and understands the needs of the industry.

"It (Botswana) has a lot of attributes to it, in terms of databases for mining, the geology, secure landholdings and a very established mining culture," he says.

Hana Mining announced last June that by spending $1.2 million in exploration and development costs over three years, it has the right to own 70 percent of the land in which the Gantsi Project lies.

Going along with the agreement are a $400,000 and 2.5 million common-share payments. Warrants are also included in the deal.

"We are very close to that expenditure figure now, and once we reach that, the 30 percent owners will have to participate in further expenditures," Wilson says, referring to a privately-held company called Stellent Ltd.

Hana Mining will continue its drilling programme over the next 12 months. The statement says the possibility to expand the programme to 25,000 meters exists.

"We will start to test some of the zones that haven't had as much work as the initial areas explored," says Wilson. "This means bringing another core drill onto the property as well as two reverse circulation drills, which are cheaper and faster to define mineralisation."