Avrupa acquires remaining 7.5% of Innomatik

Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (CVE:AVU) purchased the remaining 7.5 per cent interest in Innomatik Exploration Kosovo (IEK), bringing the Vancouver-based junior explorer’s ownership of the subsidiary to 100 per cent, the company announced Tuesday.

Two of the former owners of Innomatik, Dr. Paul Nelles and Dr. Michael Diehl, will continue with Innomatik and Avrupa in their roles as senior exploration, project management, and business development advisors in Kosovo.

Under the terms of the transaction, Avrupa Minerals is to issue the four former Innomatik owners a total of 450,000 common shares of the company, as soon as it obtains approval from the TSX Venture Exchange.

Also, Avrupa will provide payments equivalent to EUR50,000 in cash or shares per license for two licenses in Kosovo, namely Kamenica and Glavej, by year’s end, for a previous land payment extension granted mid last year.

"Purchasing the remaining 7.5 per cent interest in Innomatik allows [Avrupa Minerals] to better negotiate with potential JV partners on its properties in Kosovo,” said CEO of Avrupa Minerals, Paul W. Kuhn.

Innomatik holds all Avrupa’s licenses and mineral property interests in Kosovo. The company initially purchased its 92.5 per cent interest in Innomatik in July 2010 as part of its qualifying transaction. 

Avrupa holds five exploration licenses in Kosovo, totaling 153 square kilometers. Three of the five licenses -- Glavej, Selac, and Kamenica -- host near drill-ready silver and base metal targets; all five licenses present surface expressions of alteration and mineralization. 

The newest license, Slivovo, covers a polymetallic gossan zone discovered in late 2011, with a spatially related zone of strong anomalous gold geochemistry and potential mineral targets. Geological mapping of recently-excavated trenches in the area of anomalous gold geochemistry indicates widespread surface alteration and the potential of close-to-surface drill targets. 

Kosovo has seen little modern-style mineral exploration before it declared independence in 2008. The government of the country recently enacted a European-styled mining law, and Avrupa's subsidiary, Innomatik, is one of the first companies to go through the renewal and acquisition processes under the new mining legislation.

Shares in Avrupa were trading steady on the TSX – Ventures Exchange the day of the announcement, at 12 cents per share as of 12.40pm.