The Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX: GAL) share price is gaining ground today. Newfound momentum has sprouted from the company's drilling update this morning.
At the time of writing, shares in the base metals explorer are trading 7.69% higher to 20 cents a share.
Approved and ready
Today's excitement stems from the miner receiving statutory approvals. These approvals are in relation to the Delta Blues nickel prospect in the Fraser Range.
While Galileo had his eyes on the stars above, Galileo Mining is fixated on the treasures below. The small-cap mining explorer aims to provide the metals necessary for the electric future — nickel, copper, and cobalt.
Galileo has moved a step closer to this ambition, gaining approval for its drilling program. An initial 1,000-metre diamond drilling program is planned to commence in mid-June. The program will also test highly conductive targets at DB1 and DB2 in the Fraser Range region of Western Australia.
Additionally, Galileo Mining expects the drilling to be completed within three weeks of commencement. The findings will give clarity to the conductive anomaly found, exhibiting a strike length between 800 to 900 metres.
Managing director commentary
Contained in the release, Galileo managing director Brad Underwood commented on the progress:
The first drilling programs at our northern Fraser Range project identified highly prospective rocks with strong indications of nickel and copper at the Lantern Prospect. Following this confirmation of prospectivity we now enter our next phase of drilling optimistic that we can generate significant drill results at the Delta Blues prospect.
Today's update, amplifying the Galileo share price, is less than a month after the company reported its discovery of the nickel target. On the target details, Mr Underwood stated:
Our target generation work at the Delta Blues prospect has utilised high quality data sets with positive interpretations by world class geological and geophysical professionals. The strength of the EM conductors, and their positions on the magnetic and gravity maps, present a compelling case of the potential for mineralisation. We look forward to updating the market as drilling gets underway and as the results of drilling are received.
Galileo Mining share price snapshot
The Galileo Mining share price has provided an 18% return in the last year to shareholders. However, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has delivered a superior return of 32% over the same period.
Furthermore, shareholders have also endured an erratic ride, with the share price fluctuating between 20 cents and 40 cents multiple times throughout the last year.
