AVZ Minerals Limited announced that it has commenced a 20,000m drilling program at the Manono Lithium Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Equator Drilling's drill rig and associated drilling equipment has arrived at site and all preliminary preparation was completed over the past week with sumps being excavated, drill pipe being offloaded and site inductions completed for all personnel. The rig is set up on line 7000mN, approximately 90m east of drill hole MO17DD001, at the Roche Dure Pegmatite in the Kitotolo Sector. The proposed drill hole location will allow drilling beneath MO17DD001 to test depth extensions and thickness of the Roche Dure pegmatite expected to be in the order of 230m thick. Equity Drilling Limited's drilling equipment has cleared customs and is now located in Lubumbashi, with ancillary equipment also at the Zambia/DRC border. A total of five drill rigs will be operational on site by mid-February and it is expected that JORC compliant resources will be calculated in early second quarter of 2018.