Monday 1 October 2012

Avrupa Minerals starts drilling at Covas joint venture


Avrupa Minerals (CVE:AVU) says it has started drilling at its Covas joint venture project in northern Portugal, a past producing tungsten project. 
The program at the site will include up to 2,100 metres of drilling, aimed at testing and expanding known zones of tungsten-bearing mineralization, testing new targets, as well as the previously-reported possibility of gold mineralization within the prospect area. 
The initial holes will test the Telheira and Lapa Grande mineral zones, located on the so-called "Skarn Ring" that encircles the Covas Dome granitic body, Avrupa said. 
The project, announced in May of last year, is a joint venture between Avrupa and Blackheath Resources (CVE:BHR), a tungsten explorer focused in Portugal.  
Blackheath is providing 1 million euros of exploration funding in two stages to earn up to a 70 per cent stake in the project, followed by a further option to earn up to 85 per cent by completing a feasibility study. 
Covas is a past producer of tungsten, and historic resources on the property were estimated at 922,900 metric tonnes of 0.78% tungsten trioxide. Reported past production, between 1951 and 1974, totaled roughly 366,000 metric tonnes at 0.61% tungsten trioxide. 
Exploration by Avrupa over the past three years uncovered new tungsten targets around the Skarn Ring and inside the Covas Dome area, as well as gold possibilities within the Dome, the company said.
The work included a compilation of old data, new geological mapping, soil geochemistry, ground geophysics and the integration of data into a single database. 
Earlier this month, Avrupa agreed to launch a $975,000 non-brokered private placement financing to raise funds for exploration at its mineral projects in Portugal, Kosovo and Germany. 
The financing will consist of 6.5 million units at 15 cents each. The company said funds will also be used to continue to generate new ideas and prospects in its core areas and elsewhere in Europe.
Aside from restarting work at Covas, Avrupa is continuing to advance the Alvalade project in the Portuguese Pyrite Belt with its joint venture partner, with a project exploration budget of US$2.5 million for 2012. 
With regards to its other properties in Portugal, Kosovo and Germany, the company said the assets will be dropped if significant targets are not found. 
In September, the company provided details of progress on it work programs in Portugal, highlighting its recent acquisition of the Arcas gold-tungsten license, which brings the total of licenses that the company holds in Portugal to nine, covering 2,608 square kilometres.
Avrupa said the Mining Bureau of Portugal (DGEG) awarded a two-year exploration contract to the company, covering 75.8 square kilometres in northern Portugal’s gold-tungsten belt. The company said the area was previously explored for tungsten deposits, but no past production has been reported. 
In 2011, Avrupa collected a total of five select samples of quartz vein material around the project area that averaged 2.15 parts per million (ppm) gold and ranged from 0.405 ppm gold to 3.89 ppm gold.

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