Geobotanical, biogeochemical and geochemical investigations carried out on the western and north ern fringes of the Kalahari Basin in South West Africa and Botswana, as part of a multi-disciplinary min eral exploration programme, were aimed at delineating a hitherto unknown but inferred mineralized province in Proterozoic sediments and associated extrusive rocks. The investigations were based on a geological appreciation of the possible presence of Proterozoic sediments of comparable age and type to those of the Katanga System of Zambia that carries important stratiform copper deposits. Because the widespread cover of Tertiary and Quaternary Kalahari sediments and the scarcity of bedrock outcrops limited geological mapping, emphasis was placed on photo geological interpretation, geobotany, biogeochemistry, geochemistry and also geophysics in a research based exploration programme. Initial air and ground reconnaissance revealed that distinctive vegetation associations distinguished areas of near surface bedrock from those with thick cover of sand and calcrete, and that their lineations reflected the geological structure and stratigraphy. The recognition of anomalous plant communities of Helichrysum leptolepis DC during ground reconnaissance near Witvlei led to the discovery, beneath cover of sand and calcrete, of copper mineralization in argillite bedrock that was subsequently exposed by trenching. This early success, coupled with equally promising geochemical results, prompted exploration over some 115 000 square kilometres of country. The detailed investigations focused on four main areas, namely Witvlei and Dordabis (Gamma) in South West Africa and Ghanzi and Ngwaku in Botswana, each of which is characterized by specific environmental features posing particular exploration problems that required the development and application of appropriate techniques. The investigations which included basic geomorphological and soil studies necessary for the interpretation of geobotanical, biogeochemical and geochemical data, led to the location of copper deposits in all four areas. In the Witvlei area where there are zones of near-surface subcropping steeply dipping strata planed by erosion and veneered by shallow sand, as well as areas of thick sand and calcrete cover, the investigations established relationships between the distribution of plant communities and bedrock geology, and determined the distributional aureole of plant species over and adjacent to mineralized bedrock. The strike continuities of mineralized zones could thus be traced, and the most suitable plant species be isolated for biogeochemical application. Furthermore, investigations of particle size distribution, and analyses of different mesh size fractions of surface and profile soil samples, revealed that copper miner alization in bedrock beneath sand cover could preferentially be detected by analysis of the - 270 mesh fraction of surface soil samples as opposed to coarser fractions. In the Gamma grant area, which is characterized by a succession of parallel sand dunes and intervening swales aligned at right angles to the inferred geological strike, by colluvial and alluvial cover and by abandoned water courses, the investigations concentrated on the interpretation of geobotanical, biogeo chemical and geochemical data in the context of the geomorphology, on tracing the origin of transported geochemical anomalies and on assessing the role of biogeochemistry in detecting copper mineralization in bedrock beneath thick overburden. The investigations led to the location of copper mineralization in bedrock far from the sites of the transported geochemical anomalies. In the Ghanzi area the investigations concentrated on establishing the relationships between vegetation associations and concealed bedrock geology, and in extrapolating the strike continuities of cupriferous strata. Spectacular fold patterns visible on aerial photographs faithfully reflect bedrock structures and lithology, that in turn control the distribution and nature of plant species. In the Ngwaku area, an appreciation of the direct relationship between lithology and overlying vegetational types enabled the strike trends and structural complications of strata to be determined with ease. Furthermore, the recognition within the prevailing low savanna woodland of an anomalous shrub layer dominated by Ecbolium lugardae N.E. Brown enabled reliable predictions being made of the presence of cupriferous argillite and limestone bedrock beneath as much as 30 m of calcrete. The investigations succeeded in locating sub-outcropping copper mineralization in seven different localities, and demonstrated the value of geobotany and biogeochemistry in exploration provided the re lationships of vegetation distribution to environmental factors are understood.