Vancouver-based Avrupa Minerals (CVE:AVU) reported Monday first drill results from the Covas joint venture program in northwest Portugal, which the company says confirms the high grade tungsten nature of historic results from the 1970s.
The joint venture is operated by Avrupa, and fully funded by Blackheath Resources (CVE:BHR), under an agreement inked back in May 2011.
So far, Avrupa has drilled eight diamond holes in the first phase, with five holes drilled in the Telheira area, and three holes in the Lapa Grande target zone, with the aim of testing known, higher grade skarn-related mineralized zones.
Today, the company reported results from the first two holes, which it says validates the high grades from historic results, and confirms the general thickness of mineralization.
Hole CO 7/12 returned 7.98 metres at 2.11% tungsten, including 2.55 metres at 4.24% tungsten, and hole CO 8/12A hit 4.15 metres at 0.71% tungsten, including 2.42 metres at 1.15% tungsten.
Once the work at the Telheira and Lapa Grande targets is done, the company said it will move onto further confirmation drilling in the Castelo target area. According to Avrupa, all three of these mineral targets were reported to contain near-surface, high grade tungsten mineralization.
After this, drilling will look to find new zones of tungsten mineralization, with drill locations prioritized through geological mapping, rock chip and soil sampling, as well as through geophysical surveys.
"We are pleased with the progress of the Covas JV drill program, and especially excited about the initial high grade tungsten results at Telheira," said president and CEO Paul Kuhn.
"It will be a positive next step in the program to begin to expand the size of the high grade deposits at Telheira, Lapa Grande, and Castelo. We are planning to bring in a second drill rig to move the Phase 1 program towards completion before the end of 2012."
Avrupa and Blackheath will also test, with at least one deeper hole, a potential gold-tungsten target within the Covas Dome area. The phase 1 drilling program is expected to total up to 2,100 metres in around 15 drill holes.
The Covas project is a past producer of tungsten. Historic resources on the property were estimated at 922,900 tonnes of 0.78% tungsten in the indicated and inferred categories by Union Carbide in 1980, based on work including 327 drill holes on the property.
The company said that mineralization is open to expansion and upgrade, noting that the price of tungsten has increased significantly in recent years and is currently around $33 per kilogram of contained tungsten trioxide.
Avrupa Minerals is focused on “aggressive exploration” in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, including Portugal, Kosovo, and Germany.
It operates two joint ventures in Portugal, including the Alvalade joint venture with Antofagasta for copper-rich massive sulfide deposits, and the Covas joint venture.
The company also has several other precious and base metal targets that it is upgrading to JV-ready status, including the porphyry copper-gold potential in southern Portugal in the Alvito license area.
Last month, Avrupa announced the start-up of phase 2 drilling on its Alvalade joint venture copper project in Portugal.
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