7th Oct 2025 11:37
(Alliance News) - First Development Resources PLC on Tuesday abandoned work at the FDRDW002 drillhole due to "deteriorating downhole conditions".
Shares in the company slumped 50% to 4.44 pence in London on Tuesday morning. It floated on AIM in late July at 6.67p per share.
The Australia focused exploration company said drilling at the hole located in the Wallal copper-gold project reached a depth of 918.7 metres, shy of what was planned.
"Due to deteriorating downhole conditions at the base of the Canning Basin sedimentary sequence, FDR drillhole could not be advanced to the planned depth of 1,220 metres and the decision has been made to cease drilling," First Development said.
The hole did not look like hosting the "magnetic anomalies identified in the company's desktop studies", First Development added.
Chief Executive Officer Tristan Pottas said: "The abandonment of FDRDW002 is a bitterly disappointing end to what has been a very challenging maiden drill campaign at our Wallal project. Exploration drilling is never a straightforward process, particularly in greenfield locations such as Wallal.
"Our understanding of the geology specific to Wallal has increased significantly and will now be incorporated back into the geophysical Inversion modelling in order to further inform the exploration strategy for when we return to test what remains to be a highly compelling target."
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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