Caerus Mineral Resources PLC (LSE:CMRS) said diamond drilling started on Monday, one month ahead of schedule, at the Troulli copper-gold project in Cyprus.
The company will run two drill programmes in parallel to capitalise on the current availability of both a diamond and a scout drill rig. Access to low-cost scout drill data will enable Caerus to broadly define targets ahead of more costly diamond drilling and the definition of potential mineral resources, it said.
Hard rock samples will be collected and delivered to Jubilee Metals Group PLC (AIM:JLP, FRA:JI5, JSE:JBL, OTC:JUBPF) for further detailed mineralogical test work.
Diamond drilling will initially focus on sulphide mineralisation in the former Troulli open pit, extensions of the pit, the high-grade gold oxide zone and underlying sulphide mineralisation.
"The preliminary work undertaken over the past few months is starting to deliver results and the benefits of having two drill rigs available to us on a full-time basis is becoming evident,” said chief executive Martyn Churchouse.
“We have a well-defined drill programme prepared for Troulli and depending on the results of the scout drilling we expect to be able to roll out the diamond programme to include the prospective structure linking the Troulli and Kokkinapetra deposits and potentially increasing resource tonnes well beyond our projected estimates," he added.