London-listed Aterian has reported more positive results on the recent fieldwork conducted on its Tata copper project, in the western Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocco, with additional copper discoveries, chairperson Charles Bray says in an operational update.

Copper mineralisation is extended within two mineralised stratigraphic horizons and is visible on the surface.

The field team has completed about 20 line kilometres of traverse mapping and rock sampling, extending the cumulative strike length of mineralised target horizons to 32 km, from 18 km.

It targeted the basement inlier/Adoudou Formation contact and the overlaying Tata Group sediments.

Additional discoveries include copper mineralisation over apparent thicknesses of up to 8.5 m and 6 m in the south and north of the project, respectively.

In addition to previously reported apparent mineralised thicknesses of up to 8 m with 0.87% copper, the recent field results reinforce the company’s conviction that Tata offers scale potential and the potential to deliver value to all stakeholders, the company highlights. 

Thirteen kilometres strike length of target horizons remains untested.

Fifteen targets were identified from remote sensing data analysis for follow-up mapping and sampling.

The Tata project is one of Aterian’s four high-priority copper projects in Morocco, potentially offering Aterian a large-scale copper development opportunity, the company points out.

The copper grades, as reported, are considered economic and in line with expectations for advancing a large-scale project that demands target generation and drilling.

Drill target generation will be based on surface geological mapping and sampling outcomes with ground-based geophysics and supported by airborne geophysical data interpretation.

“The next exploration phase at Tata will focus on additional traverse mapping, rock chip sampling along strike of mineralised horizons, and rock chip sampling over yet-to-be-explored targets.

“Ground-based geophysical surveys will be implemented to aid in drill hole planning based on the surface mapping and sampling outcomes and supported by the airborne geophysical data re-interpretation.

“We will proceed in a disciplined fashion, but given the sheer scale, we anticipate this project will require more time. We expect to commence the next fieldwork phase shortly . . .” Bray outlines.