Results of cavity scans will return within one week to produce more details of what lies beyond Egypt's boy-king Tutankhamun's tomb walls, the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El Enany said on Friday (April 1).
In October, high-resolution scans suggested that the tomb of King Tut contained passages to two hidden chambers, including what one British archaeologist believes is the last resting place of Queen Nefertiti.
Since then an Egyptian-American team relying on several radar scans have been examining the northern and western walls of the ancient tomb.
If proven, the discovery would be the most significant this century and shed light on what remains a mysterious period of Egyptian history despite frenzied international interest.
The scans are still in the preliminary phase and El Enany said that more scans are required.
Officials have dismissed the possibility of any destruction of the tomb walls however El Enany said that if they are "100 percent" sure that cavities exist beyond the walls, a one-inch hole might be drilled.
British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves said that he believes Tutankhamun's mausoleum was originally occupied by Nefertiti, thought by experts to have been his step-mother, and that she has lain undisturbed behind what he believes is a partition wall for over 3,000 years.
Reeves developed his theory about Nefertiti's resting place after studying high-resolution scans he believes suggest the presence of two rooms hidden behind the northern and western walls of Tut's burial chamber.
He remains optimistic that something "remarkable" lies behind the walls.
Discovery of Nefertiti, whose chiselled cheek-bones and regal beauty were immortalized in a 3,300-year old bust now in a Berlin museum, would shed fresh light on what remains a mysterious period of Egyptian history.
It could also be a boon for Egypt's ailing tourism industry, which has suffered near endless setbacks since the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and which is a vital source of foreign currency.