Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE) told investors it has kicked off a drilling campaign at the Pitfield Project in Western Australia.
The new programme will focus on high-grade titanium mineralisation within weathered surface deposits at the Thomas and Cosgrove Prospects.
The the programme will comprise 84 air core holes for a total of 4,340 metres, it will bulk sample up to 80 tonnes of titanium-rich material from an area covering 60 hectares.
The work is intended to support a mineral resource estimate.
Previous drill results identified high-grade titanium intervals with grades over 6% TiO₂ on average, with some reaching up to 18% TiO₂. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the presence of high-purity titanium dioxide minerals anatase and rutile in the weathered zones.
"I am pleased to announce the commencement of this very important AC drilling campaign that provides not only the bulk metallurgical samples to enable a significant scale-up of our metallurgical test work programme but also represents the next phase of defining a Mineral Resource Estimate for Pitfield,” managing director Shaun Bunn said in a statement.
He added: "Drilling is expected to be completed in a short period of time, given the soft, friable nature of the weathered zone.
“Sub-sampling of the drill holes and geochemical analysis will be the first priority and this will take a few weeks to turn around.
“Delivery of the bulk metallurgical samples to the processing laboratory will follow and we anticipate moving to a large-scale metallurgical test work programme around May-June."