The drilling program will infill the resource area to 50m section spacing, and acquire up to eight tonnes of mineralized rock for metallurgical test work.

The Phase 4 program will include an additional 40 holes for a total of about 8,000m and two drill rigs are now on site.

The company said that the results from this drilling program will advance the current NI43-101 compliant inferred mineral resource towards indicated and measured status.

Larger diameter drill core will supply bulk material for a pilot plant scale test of the company’s metallurgical process, which will begin this year.

Extensive geotechnical data, which is being collected, will provide a basis for pit design in Tasman’s planned pre-feasibility study, the company said.

Tasman is a mineral exploration and development firm focused on rare earth elements in the European region.