Power Metal Resources (AIM:POW), the London-listed exploration company and project incubator, said on-site work has commenced at its wholly owned Tati Gold Project on the Tati Greenstone Belt near Francistown, Botswana.
The start follows approval of the project's Environmental Management Plan and the signing of an access agreement covering the site, including the Cherished Hope target.
The initial phase involves rotary air blast drilling designed to test below the base of oxidation, aiming to avoid the distorting effects of supergene enrichment on assay results.
Subsequent drilling will step down-dip to establish the geometry of the mineralised body, then along strike to test its lateral extent.
Results will feed into a desktop feasibility study assessing small-scale mining potential at Cherished Hope.
Under a share option agreement signed with Tuscan Holdings Pty in June 2024, Tuscan is funding and managing the work programme at no cost to Power Metal, in exchange for the right to acquire a 75% interest in the licence PL049/2022 if it later finances construction of a processing plant.
Power Metal would retain a 25% carried interest in that licence, alongside 100% ownership of the project's other licences.
"Following the succession of approvals leading to on-site work at Tati, I'm delighted to see this work has now commenced", said chief executive Sean Wade, adding that a favourable gold price environment continues to support the project's economics.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Power Metal has commenced drilling at its Tati Gold Project in Botswana following environmental and access approvals, with Tuscan Holdings fully funding the work programme at no cost to the company. The initial rotary air blast drilling targets gold mineralisation geometry and depth, feeding into a feasibility study on small-scale mining potential—a capital-light path enabled by Tuscan's June 2024 option agreement, under which Tuscan can acquire 75% of the licence if it later finances a processing plant, leaving Power Metal with a 25% carried interest.
Drilling commencement de-risks the Tati project's near-term execution and validates the Tuscan partnership model, but the outcome remains exploratory; results will determine whether the Cherished Hope target supports economic mining and whether Tuscan exercises its option. For Power Metal, the carried-interest structure preserves upside while eliminating funding burden.
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