Mining junior Sunrise Resources (LON:SRES) confirmed on Wednesday that the drillbit started turning, on schedule, at its Bay State silver project, Nevada, USA.
The first phase will see 500metres of diamond drilling in three holes at the historic mine site.
It comes after Sunrise signed a contract with Boart Longyear to undertake the work.
The rationale behind the three holes is to test for mineralisation beneath existing workings at the Chihuahua vein system.
One will specifically target an area which recently yielded bonanza silver grades in underground sampling.
Last week, the AIM firm said first results should be available in around eight weeks' time.
Bay State was first worked for silver back in the 1870s by the Bay State Silver Mining Company, but hasn’t seen any substantial working since the early 1900s.
Sunrise’s executive chairman Patrick Cheetham has said: “This is the first modern exploration programme on the Chihuahua vein system and we anticipate this initial drill programme will provide valuable grade and geological information and pave the way for more substantial programmes of drilling aimed at resource definition."
Sunrise acquired the property in 2014.