Tertiary Minerals PLC (AIM:TYM, OTC:TTIRF) earlier this week provided an update on recent drilling progress at the Mushima North Project.
The company has completed four drill holes from a planned ten-hole programme after heavier-than-expected rains brought an early pause to field operations.
The company said the early copper results from Target A1 were the strongest obtained to date from portable XRF readings. It highlighted an interval of ninety-five metres at 0.41% copper beginning at ten metres below surface. It added that visible copper mineralisation was present throughout the drill chips. Laboratory assays, which will include silver values, are now pending.
The company told investors that the results support those obtained during the previous drilling campaign. It said the findings expand the mineralised footprint to an area measuring 450.00 metres by 400.00 metres.
Tertiary sees the outcome made the shortened programme as worthwhile, and initial data gives the company confidence to consider expanding the next phase of drilling.
Managing director Richard Belcher joined the Proactive studio to discuss the drilling, and, here, we take a closer look at what was said.
Proactive: Richard, the phase three drilling at Target A1 has shown visible copper and strong silver values. How significant are these early results in confirming the potential scale of the Mushima North Project?
Richard Belcher: Yes. No. These are fantastic results for us. Ninety-five metres at 0.41% copper from only ten metres near the surface. These are the best results so far from the portable XRF. This is only for copper; we are still waiting for the silver results that will come back with the laboratory analysis. We are really excited with these initial results. It is great to see a lot of visible copper mineralisation within the chips from the drilling and we are looking forward to the assay results when they become available.
Proactive: You mentioned a JORC exploration target now being prepared. When do you expect to publish that and what could it mean for defining a maiden resource?
Richard Belcher: Part of our strategy has been to aggressively advance this project as quickly as we can. We have created some great momentum around this project this year. We brought some of this drilling forward before the rains and tried to get some additional drill holes done, which has been well supported by our shareholders.
Our plan now is to start on this exploration target that was originally planned to be completed later. We are bringing that work forward to undertake over the rainy season. This will give us a range of tonnes and grades and provide invaluable insight into the potential of the project. This is the next step towards achieving a maiden resource sometime in 2026.
Proactive: The rainy season forced an early pause in drilling. How much progress was made before that and do the results justify expanding the next campaign?
Richard Belcher: We had earlier and heavier rains than expected. Naturally frustrating, but we managed to complete four holes of the planned ten-hole programme. The initial results released today show that it was worthwhile pushing ahead. We now have the potential to increase the footprint of the silver mineralisation. It is already 450 by 400 metres. These additional copper grades support those from the last drill programme. It has been a great programme to undertake.
Proactive: Looking ahead, what are the key milestones for Mushima North and your wider Zambian portfolio?
Richard Belcher: We have plenty of momentum now. We will have the assay results from this drilling once the samples return from the lab. We have already started additional mineralogical work. We are also bringing forward the exploration target work, which will be a major milestone.
The rainy season is also when companies discuss projects with other companies, and this is normally when joint ventures are done. So we will actively look for potential joint venture opportunities that could help us advance more projects simultaneously into 2026.
Proactive: Richard, thank you for the update.