Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - Kodal Minerals PLC Monday said it has hired a contractor to conduct 2,000 metres of diamond drilling at the Grimeli copper project in western Norway, which will establish the structure and type of mineralisation at the project.
The Icelandic contractor, North Atlantic Mining Associates Ltd, will begin drilling the project in February and has 18 holes planned for the site, targeting 3 mineralised horizons, two of which have been previously mined for copper.
The previously un-drilled horizon, or anomaly, heads in the same direction as the two previously mined horizons. The drilling will assess what type of mineralisation it consists of, if any. The drilling programme has a primary aim of giving the company more information regarding the project and the structure of the anomalies.
"It is a small, but high grade mineralisation project," Bryan told Alliance News in a telephone interview.
In November, the company said the highest grade result from a series of underground channel samples taken from the upper mine returned a grade of 7.24% copper over 1.74 metres.
"This drilling will provide the company with its first access to the full width of the mineralised structures; previously we have been limited to mine pillars and areas where we could safely access old underground workings," said Chief Executive Luke Bryan.
The drilling programme will be conducted with one rig and will not be completed "super fast", with a time-frame of around three to four months to complete. There are some small "access issues" that need to be sorted before drilling can begin, Bryan told Alliance News.
Kodal said it has signed a land access agreement with the landowner and been given authorisation from the local municipality to access the drill locations in off-road areas, it said.
Kodal was awarded the licenses for the Grimeli project in July 2014, which covers a 30 square kilometre area and includes the Grimeli and Vagendal mines. The Grimeli mine produced high grade copper ore up until 1920 whilst Vågendal was mined between 1871 and 1880.
Kodal shares were trading flat on Monday afternoon at 0.230 pence per share.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.