Asiamet intersects highest copper grades at Indonesian asset to date

Highlights from the newly drilled holes included the highest grades of copper mineralisation intersected from surface drilling at BKM to date, recording as much as 17 metres at 3.6% copper and eight metres at 6.5% at the central area of the BK44 zone.

The northern area of the asset recorded as much as 4.2m at 12.3% and several one-metre sample intervals of as much as 25.3%.

Succesful completion of Asiamet's geotechnical drill programme, consisting of six drill holes totalling 681 metres, was undertaken as part of the group's ongoing feasibility studies, necessary to complete pit designs and calculate an ore reserve for the project, meant the firm remained on track to complete the feasibility study for BKM by mid-year.

Peter Bird, Asiamet's chief executive, said, "The geotechnical programme is an important milestone within the context of the BKM Feasibility process to allow more accurate design parameters for the open pit and associated infrastructure. The assay results announced in this release further validate the previous assessments of the BKM Feasibility with respect to mineralogy.

"The tenor of the grade was a higher than anticipated and suggests that a number of higher grade 'pods' may be encountered in the earlier stages of mining," he added.

As of 0920 BST, shares had gained 1.28% to 11.90p.