Strategic Minerals PLC (AIM: SML) said its wholly owned subsidiary Cornwall Resources Ltd has received planning permission to expand the drilling programme at the Redmoor Tungsten-Tin-Copper Project in Cornwall.
The company said Cornwall Council’s Mineral Planning Officer has approved the expanded programme under delegated authority.
The approval allows Cornwall Resources to mobilise a further two drill rigs to Redmoor, with site setup expected to begin after the submission and approval of pre-commencement documentation by the local planning authority.
The permission allows for up to three years of continuous operations, although the current expanded drilling programme is planned to be completed in the second quarter of 2027.
Strategic Minerals said the approval also gives it the option to add another drill rig later in the year to further accelerate the programme.
The planned programme covers 22,500 metres of drilling across at least 44 drill holes. It includes infill drilling of the existing resource and drilling designed to test the exploration target, with the aim of potentially converting parts of that target into mineral resources.
The company said the drilling will also collect data for geotechnical, metallurgical and hydrogeological studies required for pre-feasibility and feasibility work. Strategic Minerals said this is intended to accelerate data collection and reduce the need for larger additional programmes in future.
Strategic Minerals said it believes the campaign will be the largest continuous diamond drilling programme undertaken from surface in Cornwall and the largest single drilling programme undertaken in Great Britain this century, based on its review of available company records.
The company also provided an update on ongoing drilling. Drill hole CRD044 was completed on June 25 at a depth of 526.10 metres, having intersected the full thickness of the Redmoor Sheeted Vein System and the Kit Hill granite at depth.
The hole intersected a mineralised granite roof zone, including chalcopyrite and cassiterite mineralised vein structures within aplitic sheets in the upper 30 metres of the granite body.
A daughter hole, CRD044_D1, is now underway. The hole branches from CRD044 at 195 metres downhole and is the first of a planned series of daughter holes designed to collect metallurgical samples for the pre-feasibility and feasibility study stages.
Cornwall Resources managing director Dennis Rowland said the planning approval reflected the quality of the submission and the company’s operating standards. He said the company would now submit the required pre-commencement documentation and move towards site setup once final approvals are received.
Strategic Minerals executive director Mark Burnett said the approval gives the company flexibility to accelerate development at Redmoor and advance the project through feasibility work as quickly as possible.
The company said it will continue to update shareholders as the Redmoor drilling programme progresses.
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