Tertiary Minerals PLC (AIM:TYM, OTC:TTIRF, FRA:TMU) shares climbed 15%, rising to 0.075p, after the explorer discovered a new shallow copper-mineralised zone at its Mushima North project in Zambia, around 900 metres west-southwest of the existing Discovery Zone at Target A1.
Preliminary pXRF analysis from scout hole 26TMNRC-076 returned 25 metres at 0.38% copper from 19 metres downhole, including 13 metres at 0.53% from 29 metres and three metres at 0.75% from 33 metres. The results are preliminary, with certified laboratory assays still required and true widths currently unknown.
The newly named Western Zone sits beyond the boundary of the Discovery Zone, where Tertiary has previously defined an Exploration Target of 15–30 million tonnes grading 40–60 grams per tonne silver equivalent.
Managing director Richard Belcher said the latest drilling indicated “the potential for additional mineralisation in a new zone well beyond the Exploration Target boundary”.
Tertiary has completed its 39-hole, 3,639-metre Phase 4 drilling programme. Further pXRF results from seven holes are expected imminently, followed by laboratory assays over the coming weeks, while metallurgical testwork and Mineral Resource modelling are also due to begin.
The company is targeting a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the Discovery Zone before year-end.
