Empire Resources (ASX: ERL) has been awarded $125,000 by the Western Australian Government to drill a new copper target in the northern Gascoyne region of the state. The company has received two separate funding grants from the Western Australian Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme Co-Funded Drilling Program, and Empire is now required to match the funding dollar-for-dollar on direct drill spending. Drilling at the copper target will commence shortly. The target lies within the Wynne project which covers an area of 90 square kilometres and $75,000 has been awarded to evaluate widespread outcropping mineralisation that extends over a distance of five kilometres. The government has also supported Empire’s plans to drill a single deep diamond hole on its newly discovered Constantine PGM-nickel discovery which lies within its Yuinmery copper-gold project near Sandstone in the state’s central west. A grant of $50,000 has been allocated to test a newly identified concept on this previously under explored zone of mineralisation. The Constantine discovery lies just six kilometres to the northeast of the copper-gold resource outlined by Empire at the Just Desserts prospect. David Sargeant, Empire’s managing director, said "the government’s assessment criteria this year was extremely rigorous so securing the co-funding reflects a high level of endorsement of the exploration potential at Wynne and Constantine.” Empire is a major land holder (227 square kilometres) in the base metals rich but underexplored Youanmi greenstone belt. Since listing four years ago Empire has made three significant gold and copper-gold discoveries and have proven resources at two projects. Empire’s Just Desserts prospect at Yuinmery has a JORC Indicated and Inferred resource of 1.7 million tonnes at 1.82% copper and 0.78g/t gold. The company is bullish that the Wynne and Constantine projects can add to its Resource base.

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