(Alliance News) - Empire Metals Ltd on Wednesday celebrated impressive drilling results at the Pitfield project in Western Australia, as tests confirmed extensive, high-grade titanium mineralisation.

Empire Metals is a London-based minerals explorer and developer with copper, titanium and gold interests in Australia and Austria.

Shares in the firm were trading 29% higher at 11.09 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

Pitfield, in which Empire holds a 70% interest, is comprised of four exploration licences. Located near Three Springs, the project is north of Perth in Western Australia.

Lab results delivered the highest grade drilling results reported to date, with the second and third diamond drillholes both intersecting thick, bedded intervals of high-grade titanium mineralisation.

The former intersected 297.1 metres at 6.10% titanium oxide from 111.4 metres, while the latter intersected 173.2 metres at 5.76% titanium oxide from 18.6 metres.

According to Empire, these results complement previously reported high-grade intervals from the first diamond drillhole, announced earlier in November.

Looking ahead, an extensive reverse circulation programme of the high-grade target areas is underway, with approximately 18 reverse circulation drill holes completed to date out of the total of 40 holes planned.

"These exceptional results provide further evidence that we have a high-grade titanium enriched mineralised system of global strategic significance at Pitfield. The results clearly point to strong and extensive titanium mineralisation with thick, high-grade bedded intervals, close to surface, the grades of which are particularly impressive," said Managing Director Shaun Bunn.

"The plan is to carry out an additional, similarly sized RC drilling programme in early 2024, targeting the shallower areas of high-grade [titanium oxide] beds which have been identified up-dip of the deeper diamond drillhole intercepts, and in additional higher grade target areas that we expect to be identified from the RC drilling currently underway."

By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter

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