Great Western Mining's drilling programme churns on despite delays

Exploration firm Great Western Mining reported on Tuesday that its M2 copper-gold infill drilling programme in Mineral County, Nevada, is "proceeding well" despite technical and operational problems.

The AIM-traded company reports that the issues have now been resolved but, while samples from earlier holes at the Huntoon Valley site being processed by Bureau Veritas in Reno, the eighth hole of the programme has been delayed and its completion now expected to come later this week.

In contrast, the company has brought forward the start of a three hole drilling programme at the M2 Sharktooth zone, with drilling of the first hole, M2-041, having commenced on 17 April.

David Fraser, chief executive of Great Western Mining, said: "The 2018 drill programme is now starting to move through the gears as weather conditions in the Huntoon Valley improve. For the first time we will be drilling with three rigs simultaneously and we are relishing the task of accelerating operations. We expect to receive the first results from the M2 infill drill programme in the next couple of weeks and will update shareholders on these and future developments."

Great Western has also gained approval from the United States Forestry Service for the recommencement of M4 target drilling where work is due to commence this week.

As of 1055 BST, Great Western Mining’s shares were up 11.63% at 1.20p.