(Alliance News) - Aterian PLC on Wednesday said sampling at its Zaer project in Morocco showed "strong indications" of copper mineralisation.

The London-based mining firm, formerly known as Eastinco Mining & Exploration PLC, collected 2.3% of copper and 33.3 grams per tonne of silver from geological reconnaissance work.

25 stream sediments were collected from the western Zaer licences in order to identify areas for follow-up groundwork.

Chair Charles Bray said: "The stream sediment survey has outlined several encouraging anomalies, which provide focused target areas for our field teams to explore. As we continue to work on our portfolio of projects in Morocco, we are demonstrating the high quality and great potential of these assets.

"We remain committed to exploring this project along with the other assets within our portfolio, which, thus far, are showing significant upside potential."

This follows Aterian's announcement on Tuesday acknowledging the recent 6.8 magnitude earthquake which struck last Friday in Marrakesh, killing almost 3,000 people.

The company said its operations had not been directly impacted, with Chief Executive Officer Simon Rollason commenting: "We are deeply saddened by the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in Morocco. Our thoughts and prayers are with the affected communities. Aterian is committed to providing immediate assistance and longer-term support to help Morocco recover and rebuild."

Shares in Aterian were up 3.6% at 0.88 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.

By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter

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