Firering signs 3,000-metre drilling contract

Exploration company Firering has signed a reverse circulation (RC) drilling contract with FTE Drilling, it announced on Tuesday, for an initial depth of 3,000 metres.

The AIM-traded firm said the agreement set the stage for an upcoming RC drilling campaign to kick off in mid-January.

Its partner, Ricca Resources, would collaborate closely on the venture.

The joint efforts of Firering and FTE would see 18 strategically planned and positioned RC holes drilled.

Firering said the drilling initiative was expected to finish in February, with logging and sampling conducted at one-metre intervals.

The fresh pegmatite samples would be dispatched to Intertek Laboratories in Côte d'Ivoire for initial sample preparation.

Subsequently, the prepared samples would be forwarded to Intertek Laboratories in Australia for assaying.

The drilling campaign followed the identification of weathered pegmatite during the first part of the auger drilling campaign, with the primary objective of intersecting fresh pegmatite and evaluating the potential for lithium mineralisation within those pegmatites.

Results from the assay were expected towards the end of the first quarter of 2024 and would play a pivotal role in guiding future drilling programmes for Firering and Ricca Resources.

"FTE Drilling is expected to be on site and start drilling operations mid-January," said chief executive officer Yuval Cohen.

"RC hole locations have been finalised, and Firering's field team will be preparing the drill pads in due course.

"We estimate that the RC drilling campaign will be completed during February 2024 and that assay results will be available towards the end of the first quarter, when we will provide the results of the RC campaign to the market."

At 1448 GMT, shears in Firering Strategic Minerals were flat at 4.9p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.