(Alliance News) - Greatland Gold PLC on Thursday said first results from a drill campaign at the Havieron project in Western Australia are "excellent".
Shares in Greatland were up 17% at 2.09 pence in late morning trade.
Drilling has confirmed that higher grade copper-gold mineralisation is present at Havieron, including 17 metres at 21 grammes of gold per tonne of ore and 0.4% copper from 1,153 metres.
Greatland has a farm-in agreement with Newcrest Operations Ltd, under which its Newcrest Mining Ltd subsidiary has the right to acquire an up to 70% interest in a 12-block area covering the Havieron target if it spends up to USD65 million. Newcrest Mining conducted the drilling.
Greatland said these were "excellent first drill result from Newcrest's campaign" and noted that Newcrest is not planning to expand its campaign to four rigs from two.
Gervaise Heddle, chief executive officer at Greatland, said: "We are delighted by these excellent early results from Newcrest's drilling campaign and by Newcrest's acceleration of the exploration programme at Havieron as demonstrated by the commencement of a third rig at site and the imminent addition of a fourth."
Heddle added: "These results also reinforce our view regarding the prospectivity of the Paterson region and, more specifically, the potential for other magnetic anomalies in the region, such as the multiple targets recently identified at our Paterson Range East licence, to host tier-one gold-copper deposits."
Greatland Gold (GGP)