East Star Resources Plc (LON: EST) has commenced drilling at its Rulikha Copper Project in Kazakhstan after receiving all required approvals for Licence 3631.
A drilling contract has been executed, and the rig has been mobilised to site, with operations beginning on 5 October 2026.
The initial programme is expected to comprise five drill holes across two target areas for approximately 1,500 metres.
The drilling is designed primarily to verify historically logged copper mineralisation and support the joint venture’s objective of converting the historical exploration target into a defined mineral resource.
Importantly for East Star shareholders, the programme is being undertaken at no cost to East Star.
The company signed a binding Heads of Agreement with Kazakh partner Nova Ltd on 1 September under which Nova will farm into Rulikha and fund the project through development and into production.
Under those terms, East Star says it is fully carried to production, at which point it would retain between 25% and 35% of the producing mine.
That structure potentially gives East Star exposure to future project development without requiring it to fund the large capital commitments normally associated with advancing a copper discovery through drilling, resource definition and mine development.
Chief executive Alex Walker said the current drilling is focused on Target Areas 1 and 2, which contain the majority of the historical exploration target identified from earlier drill logs.
For investors, the immediate catalyst is now the drilling itself rather than permitting, with the programme having moved from planning into field execution.
However, the current holes are intended to confirm and validate historical geological information. They do not yet represent a completed Mineral Resource Estimate, and the scale and grade of any economic mineralisation will depend on the new drilling results.
The next key milestones are therefore completion of the approximately 1,500-metre programme, assay results and evidence that the historical mineralisation can be converted into a formal resource capable of supporting further project development.
The combination of active drilling and a fully funded farm-in structure materially reduces East Star’s direct financing exposure, while leaving the company with a potentially significant minority interest should Rulikha ultimately advance to production.
