Anglesey Mining PLC (LSE:AYM) said it began a nine-hole diamond drill programme of 2,750 metres at its Parys Mountain copper-lead-zinc project in north Wales.
The company anticipates the programme will take around three months to complete and provide data to feed into a feasibility study that is expected to start in 2022.
The campaign includes infill drilling of the White Rock zone to convert the remaining 22% inferred resource category material to the indicated category. It will also provide geotechnical information to enable domain modelling for the mine design and allow for additional metallurgical testwork from both the Engine zone and White Rock zone.
Anglesey Mining told investors it recently hired a site manager for the project and a group geologist, while environmental consultants have been engaged and recently started their evaluation of historical baseline studies.
Initial discussions have also been had with metallurgical consultants regarding testwork to be conducted in 2022, where there are plans to target improved recoveries on both the lead and gold streams.
Chief executive Jo Battershill said he was looking forward to seeing cores over the next three months and expects to have results coming back from the assay labs during the March quarter next year.
“It is also very encouraging to have commenced the next stage of the environmental permitting process for Parys Mountain given the potential lead times involved with these activities,” he said.
“Without doubt, the next year is shaping up to be a busy period for Anglesey Mining with activities at Parys Mountain moving up a gear and the PFS update for Grängesberg now underway.
“Recent investor marketing has demonstrated that the Parys Mountain project is significantly more advanced than has been generally understood. The project has a large resource with significant infrastructure in place both locally and regionally and continues to receive strong support from the local community.”