Tempus Resources higher with diamond drilling to start soon at Blackdome-Elizabeth Gold Project in Canada

Tempus Resources Ltd (ASX:TMR) (FRA:4W0) is higher with the company set to kick-start 8,500 metres of diamond drilling at Blackdome-Elizabeth Gold Project in British Columbia, Canada - the first drilling to be undertaken on the high-grade, past-producing project since 2011. It has appointed BC-based Full Force Diamond Drilling Ltd to undertake the planned program of an initial 2,500 metres. Equipment will be mobilised to Blackdome shortly after the final notice of work approval is received, which is expected in the next two to three weeks. Shares have been around 12% higher to 29 cents intra-day, a new 12-month high. Focus on existing resource The planned program will focus on verifying and expanding on the existing high-grade historical NI43-101 mineral resource. It will also include trenching and drilling over significant gold-in-soil anomalies to the northeast of the known Blackdome mineralisation and resource definition drilling on a new mineralised vein discovered in the last drilling program at the project. Elizabeth sector drilling Once this is completed, drilling equipment will then move to the Elizabeth sector of the project, where an initial 6,000 metres of diamond drilling is planned, again focused on verifying and expanding upon the existing high grade historical NI43-101 mineral resource. Extensions to the known mineralisation at Elizabeth are being targeted along strike, supported by gold in soil anomalies, as well as at depth, seeking a similar extensive mesothermal vein-hosted gold system to that seen at the nearby prolific Bralorne Gold Camp, which historically produced approximately 4.2 million high-grade ounces. The company completed the second tranche of a A$4 million capital raising last week to fund its gold exploration in Ecuador and British Columbia.