Geological mapping and sampling is underway at the Patricia deposit - part of the Paguanta project in Chile, Herencia Resources (LON:HER) told investors.
Following the £1.2 million fundraising, previously announced, the work is being carried over the proposed open pit area - testing for near surface concentrations of silver and lead.
Holes from the 2011 drill programme are also being relogged to assist the firm in evaluating the potential of an open pit for Patricia.
The company said it has also finished preparation work in advance of an IP study on the largely untested Patricia anomaly which lies immediately to the south and east of the existing deposit.
A contract geophysical team is now on the site to undertake the study, the firm said.
Herencia's new managing director Graeme Sloan said: "In the short time I have been at Herencia, I have been most impressed with our project team and the portfolio of projects we have in Chile.
"To date there has been a tremendous amount of work completed and our job now is to build on this work which will culminate in the finalisation of the feasibility study and lodging the permitting application with the relevant authorities."
He added that with the results of the work being acrried out and initiated, he believes Herencia will be in a "position to understand the practical and economic viability of incorporating an open pit into the mine plan and the true potential of the bigger Paguanta picture".