Aberdeen Minerals announces the start of its “Phase 2B” mineral drilling works at the Arthrath Project in North East Scotland, where it is exploring for resources of nickel, copper and cobalt.

These metals are used in batteries and electrification making them strategically important raw materials essential to an energy transition in Scotland and the UK, however currently the country has no primary production.

The new drilling follows on from 2024’s Phase 2A campaign, which produced some of the best mineralisation encountered over the history of the project.

Fraser Gardiner, Chief Executive Officer of Aberdeen Minerals, commented:
“Last year’s drilling provided the strongest encouragement yet of increasing economic potential at Arthrath, pointing our team towards the deeper areas of the deposit where we expect to find the highest mineral concentrations. The new campaign is an exciting next step for our ongoing investment in North East Scotland, at a time when the strategic importance of resilient mineral supply chains is making global headlines.”

Five new boreholes are planned for a total of 2,400 metres of drilling. Drilling has commenced and will be ongoing at the site until mid-August. A small mineral rig operated under contract by Priority Drilling UK Ltd will drill angled boreholes to collect rock core samples to around 400 metres vertical depth below the ground surface.

Activities will be carried out in accordance with the General Permitted Development (Scotland) Order 1992, the General Binding Rules of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011, and licencing from SEPA covering deep borehole construction and operation.

All work is done in cooperation with landowners; residents neighbouring the site have been informed and the company is appreciative towards its host community. 

The work programme is privately funded through a capital raising completed in May 2024 which included a £3 million initial investment by UK mining company Central Asia Metals Plc and £0.5 million from other investors.

Arthrath project

Aberdeen Minerals is investigating naturally occurring bedrock deposits of nickel, copper and cobalt minerals which were first discovered and drilled at Arthrath in the 1960s and 70s. The company has previously completed 16 boreholes at the site during 2023 and 2024. The area is identified as a mineral safeguarded site in the Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan 2023.

The mineral deposit at Arthrath formed 470 million years ago when this part of Scotland was a vast mountain range attached to North America on the edge of the “Laurentia” continent. During the mountain building event, magma was pushed upwards into the Earth’s crust to form the gabbro rocks that contain the nickel-copper deposits in Aberdeenshire today.

The nickel and copper occur in compounds of iron and sulphur called sulphides, which were denser than the other minerals in the magma. As the rocks formed, these dense sulphides sank within the magma liquid and became more concentrated towards the base of magma conduits and chambers.

Our drilling seeks to reveal where these nickel-copper sulphides have accumulated to form richer deposits with increased economic value that could be extracted and processed using more environmentally and socially considerate methods than many overseas supply chains.