'Field operations are under way to fast track towards drilling which is expected to commence towards the end of September' Savannah Resources said in a statement on Monday.

The company said it has identified multiple high priority drill targets situated close to previously producing copper mines.

The UK-based company has a 65 per cent shareholding in the Omani company Al Thuraya LLC owner of the Block 4 licence.

Savannah's CEO David Archer said 'We and our partners are particularly pleased with these highly encouraging new results from our recent survey over Block 4. Detailed modelling has highlighted a series of high priority versatile time domain electromagnetic (VETM) anomalies in favourable geological settings in the vicinity of the old copper mines of Lasail Aarja and Bayda and the Zuha prospect area.

We are particularly encouraged by the fact that volcanic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits very rarely occur by themselves and these new results point towards the real possibility that a new VMS cluster may be present at Zuha.'

Archer said the early results continue to underscore the joint venture's strategy that through the application of systematic exploration an excellent opportunity exists in Oman to build a significant mid-tier copper producer around the development of a set of satellite deposits utilising a central processing facility.

Savannah said that modelling of seven high priority VTEM target areas was completed to generate potential drill targets for follow up work. 'Priority targets have now been field checked to confirm that the anomalies were not as a result of cultural features and will now be followed up with further geological mapping geochemistry ground geophysical surveys to prioritise the targets for drill testing.'

Savannah has interests in three copper blocks - 4 5 and 6 - in the highly prospective Seminail Ophiolite belt in Oman.