Great Western Mining advanced Wednesday after receiving regulatory approval to begin drilling operations in Nevada.The mineral exploration company was given the green light by the Bureau of Land Management to start work on the Target M2 project. Great Western is partnering up with Montana-based O'Keefe Drilling and expects operations to commence shortly.Until recently, relative inaccessibility and difficulty of the terrain close to site rendered drilling operations impractical. In late 2012 Great Western uncovered an abandoned county road which yielded easier access with minimal upgrading expenditure. A planning application for drilling at Target 4 has also been submitted to the relevant authority."The board is delighted to be in the position to begin drilling and to test this portion of the company's land claims in the historically prolific Walker Lane Trend of Nevada," Executive Chairman, Emmett O'Connell, said. "We have long considered M2 to be of great interest but the access we have established now makes it our prime target for drilling, over and above Target 4, which was previously prioritised by the company for ease of access, and we enthusiastically look forward to commencing our first drilling operations there. We will report back to shareholders when we have completed the drill programme and when we receive results."Shares climbed 7.69% to 3.50p at 10:40 Wednesday.RD