Tertiary Minerals (AIM:TYM) said drilling at its Mushima North project in Zambia will begin early next week, marking the company's first diamond drill campaign on the site.
The AIM-listed explorer, focused on copper, silver and energy-transition metals across Zambia and Nevada, has mobilised to Target A1, a polymetallic silver-copper-zinc prospect within the project.
The programme comprises up to four angled holes of roughly 200 to 250 metres each, roughly 1,000 metres of diamond core in total, designed to test mineralisation to a vertical depth of about 200 metres.
That is considerably deeper than the current exploration target of roughly 95 metres and the maximum 125-metre depth reached during the recent Phase 4 reverse-circulation programme, which completed more than 3,600 metres of drilling at the Discovery Zone.
The aim is to establish whether near-surface oxide mineralisation continues into higher-grade or primary sulphide mineralisation at depth, a transition the Phase 4 programme left untested.
"This programme marks our first diamond drill programme on the Project and will test for the continuation of mineralisation below the Discovery Zone and, in particular, for the potential of underlying primary sulphides," said Richard Belcher, managing director of Tertiary Minerals.
The campaign is expected to take about four weeks, with samples screened on site by portable X-ray fluorescence for copper and zinc, and selected intervals sent to a certified laboratory for a wider suite including silver, cobalt, bismuth, antimony, gallium, germanium and rare earth elements.
Read more about Tertiary Minerals
- 08/10/26Tertiary Minerals plans maiden diamond drilling at Mushima North
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- 10/08/26Tertiary Minerals completes Phase 4 drilling at Mushima North
First certified results are expected roughly six to eight weeks after the initial batch is submitted.
The company said the last remaining assay results from the Phase 4 programme, along with initial metallurgical testwork, are expected imminently.
Tertiary is targeting a maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate for Mushima North before the end of the year, building on an exploration target at the Discovery Zone of 15 million to 30 million tonnes at 40 to 60 g/t silver equivalent.
"With the last of the laboratory results for the recent Phase 4 drilling due imminently, along with the initial metallurgical testwork results, we are then positioned for a very strong finish to this year's Zambian field season," Belcher said.