Greatland Gold plc (LON:GGP) shares rose on Tuesday as the precious and base metals explorer said it has commenced the first drilling campaign at its 100%-owned Havieron licence in the Paterson region of Western Australia.
In a statement further to its announcement on 14 February 2018, the AIM-listed group confirmed that the drilling campaign at Havieron includes plans for up to four vertical holes for a total of approximately 2,400 metres.
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It added that drill core obtained from this drilling campaign will be subject to several analytical methods to determine the type of mineralisation and will be tested for an extensive range of elements including gold, copper, uranium and rare earths.
The group said that significant alteration and mineralisation intersected by Newcrest in limited historical drilling at Havieron displayed similarities to iron-oxide-copper-gold style deposits, examples of which include the large Olympic Dam and Ernest Henry deposits in central and eastern Australia.
Gervaise Heddle, Greatland’s chief executive officer, commented: "The prospectivity of the Paterson region is widely recognised with several large industry participants engaged in active exploration.
“We believe that this drilling campaign at Havieron may further demonstrate the potential of the eastern edge of the Paterson region to host a new IOCG district in Western Australia."
Investors seemed to agree, with Greatland shares up 2.7% to 0.57p in early morning trading.