Aterian (LSE:ATN) told investors it is set to start an 800-metre scout reverse circulation drilling programme at its 85%-owned Azrar copper-silver project in Morocco, fully funded through its joint venture with French AI geoscience company Lithosquare.
The London-listed Africa-focused critical metals exploration, development and trading company said the drill rig has been mobilised to site, with access upgrades and drill pad preparation under way ahead of drilling expected to start imminently.
The priority target is an approximately 1km-long mineralised fault zone and surrounding prospective sediments, where historic composite point rock chip samples returned up to 3.41% copper with 56 grams per tonne silver.
Drilling aims to test the continuity and subsurface extent of copper-silver mineralisation mapped and sampled at surface, both within the fault structure and the surrounding Adoudou Formation sediments, as well as gossanous material observed at surface.
Aterian holds an 85% interest in the 76.9 square kilometre Azrar project in Morocco's Western Anti-Atlas, with Lithosquare holding the remaining 15%.
The project sits roughly 45km east of Managem Group's Tizert copper-silver project, though Aterian notes mineralisation at Tizert is not necessarily indicative of what may be found at Azrar.
The Lithosquare joint venture, signed in mid-2026, provides third-party funding and AI-driven target generation across nine projects spanning Morocco and Botswana, with €1m committed to the 2026 work programme.
Azrar's scout drilling follows initial mapping work in October, which covered four of 22 planned traverses and expanded the known mineralisation footprint at the Amane target, identifying copper over roughly 1.6km of strike within a 2.5km target area, alongside stratabound copper showings at Tifrit.
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- 10/08/26Aterian starts AI-guided drone survey in Botswana copper belt
- 01/06/26Aterian completes joint venture with Lithosquare to fund €1m exploration across Morocco and Botswana
"Our partnership with Lithosquare is translating exploration plans into activity on the ground," said Charles Bray, Aterian's executive chairman, adding that the drilling would allow the company "to assess what continues beneath the surface and determine the most promising areas for further work."
The results from the 800-metre programme are intended to provide geological and geochemical data to guide the next phase of exploration at Azrar and help prioritise additional target areas across the wider Lithosquare-funded portfolio.