Mar 19 2019
Emerita Resources Corp. has reported that the initial diamond drilling campaign is anticipated to begin on March 18th, 2019 at its flagship Plaza Norte project located in the Cantabria region, in northern Spain. The drilling campaign will be carried out along with Emerita Resources’ joint venture partner, the Aldesa Group.
(Image credit: Emerita Resources Corp.)
Drilling is ongoing via its joint venture firm Cantábrica del Zinc (“ZINCA”) which is owned 50% by the Aldesa Group and 50% by Emerita Resources. Currently, diamond drilling equipment is being mobilized to the Plaza Norte project. High-grade Mississippi Valley-type zinc, the lead mineralization in the previous producing Reocín mining camp, will be the focus of the drilling program.
Moreover, the focus of the preliminary drilling will be to ascertain a mineral resource estimate that fulfills National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) standards by keeping track on mineralized drill intercepts detected in an earlier drilling program conducted by Asturiana de Zinc at the time of exploration campaigns concluded mainly in the 1980s and 1990s.
This systematic exploration will be the first in the area because operations were stopped by the Reocín Mine earlier in 2003. The property was unavailable for procurement until the launch of the Public Tender process by the Cantabria government and this was ultimately completed in 2018. About 3,600 Ha of prospective ground was granted to ZINCA.
The vast amounts of historical technical data, containing assays and drill core logs from over 300 diamond drill holes, historical production data, geophysical data, and internal exploration reports for the Plaza Norte project, were digitally compiled and analyzed by Emerita Resources.
The entire data were well-maintained in archives in the Mining school of the city of Torrelavega, situated adjacent to the Reocín mine. Emerita Resources’ data analysis has led to four major areas being discovered as high priorities for exploration work. These regions are from north to south—Yuso, Queveda, San Miguel, and Mercadal, respectively. All these targets are known to have substantial mineralized intercepts, and Mercadal happens to be the site of a previously producing mine.
At the Plaza Norte project, which includes 6,500 m of planned diamond drilling, the Phase I diamond drill program will concentrate on the Queveda target area in which a number of high-grade mineralized intercepts have been discovered. These include:
- S-544 from 557.3m; 5.30m grading 7.74% Zn
- S-539 from 588.9m; 6.10m grading 5.70% Zn
- S-537 from 560.0m; 3.22m grading 9.82% Zn
- S-532 from 557.8m; 18.95m grading 9.72% Zn
Although all the historical and records and data have been examined by the technical team of Emerita Resources, and also by a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101, such records and data have not been validated by a Qualified Person. More work is needed to validate the accuracy of the historical records and data.
It is expected that diamond drilling will begin on March 18th, 2019 with a second rig anticipated to reach the site in early April. For phase I of the drilling program, Emerita Resources has engaged Sondeos y Perforaciones Industriales del Bierzo S.A. (“SPI”) as the drilling firm. SPI has been in the exploration industry for nearly two decades, taking part in several projects in the Iberian Peninsula. The entire core samples will be sent to the ALS preparation laboratory situated in Seville southern Spain, and will be assayed in ALS Rosia Montana Romania.
The aim of the phase I drill program is to follow up the ancient wide-spaced mineralized intercepts identified at the Queveda target, covering a 1.0 km2 region. In addition, historical drilling revealed sulfide mineralization hosted by a couple of varied units from top to bottom—Dolomites (Gargasian) and Limestones (Albian). The selection of the drill holes was based on the analysis of the historical technical data and their geological interpretation.
We believe this is one of the most significant undeveloped zinc camps in Europe. We look forward to advancing the Plaza Norte project as we expect to obtain positive drill results over the coming month based on our analysis of the historical data.
Mr Joaquin Merino P. Geo., President, Emerita Resources Corp.