Greatland Gold (LON:GGP) shares rose over 5 percent in early morning trading on Tuesday, after the company announced that it had secured additional acreage covering copper-gold targets in the Paterson Region near its Havieron project.

Greatland Gold have now more than doubled their landholding in the Paterson Region, after securing a new exploration licence covering an additional 224 square kilometres.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the company said the new licence would “cement Greatland’s strategic position in a region that is experiencing increased exploration activity by a number of major industry players”.

Gervaise Heddle, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are very pleased to have extended our portfolio of new copper and gold targets near our Havieron project in Western Australia. This ties in with our stated strategy to increase shareholder value by the systematic evaluation of our existing resource assets, as well as the acquisition of suitable exploration and development projects. We look forward to updating the market as matters progress.”

Shares in Greatland Gold are currently trading up 5.23 percent at 0.463 (1036GMT).