Cadence Minerals Plc (LON:KDNC) has told investors that Auroch Minerals (ASX:AOU) has partnered with DDH1 Drilling to carry out the “aggressive maiden drilling programme” at its Arden and Bonaventura zinc projects in South Australia.

Cadence holds a 7% stake in Auroch.

The 5,000-metre drill programme is due to start later this month and has been funded from existing cash resources.

READ: Cadence Minerals says new high-priority drill target identified at Bonaventura project

At Arden, drilling will target high-grade zinc, copper and cobalt mineralisation across three identified prospects, while over at Arden, the plan is to explore for high-grade zinc, copper and gold mineralisation across four target areas.

 “Following on from the early IP survey results, we are as enthused as the management team at Auroch at the quite exceptional potential of the prospects at Arden and Bonaventura projects,” said Cadence chief executive Kiran Morzaria.

“Comments from Auroch CEO Aidan Platel best sum up the current scenario: 'To have seven high-priority drill targets with great potential for high-grade mineralisation and significant scale for our maiden programme is quite extraordinary; we really are just seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of exploring the large areas covered by our two projects.’”

Cadence shares were down 2.2% to 0.22p on Friday morning.