Aim-listed Tertiary Minerals has reported that Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals has begun drilling at the Mukai copper project in Zambia.

The company notes that it has received approval from the Department of Forestry to conduct further mineral exploration, including drilling, in the licence area.

The company says it has also been granted consent by the leadership of local tribal group, the Musele Royal Establishment, to conduct mineral exploration on the licence.

The Phase 1 drill programme, now under way, will comprise up to six diamond drill holes, with drilling depths ranging between 350 m and 400 m.

The drill programme will test beneath the large soil anomaly defined by Tertiary in 2023 which is contiguous with First Quantum's Tirosa copper prospect on the adjoining mining licence.

Tertiary says that under the terms of the company's agreement with First Quantum, First Quantum must define a minimum resource of 80 000 t of copper before it can earn an interest in the licence.

The licence also lies adjacent to First Quantum's Trident project, which comprises various mining licences encompassing the producing Sentinel copper mine and the recently developed Enterprise nickel mine.

The Sentinel processing plant has a processing capacity of 55-million tonnes of copper ore a year.

“I am delighted to announce the start of drilling on the Mukai project. This follows a period of intense consultation and work with the Musele Chiefdom and we are grateful for their engagement in this process. I would also like to thank the Department of Forestry for expediting the approval process.

“We have worked closely with First Quantum throughout this process and are delighted that First Quantum has wasted no time in commencing drilling now that the approvals are in place.

"As a company, we are on course for participation in three drilling programmes in Zambia and also at our Brunton Pass project in Nevada, in the US. I look forward to keeping shareholders updated as the results become available,” says Tertiary Minerals executive chairperson Patrick Cheetham.