Elementos Ltd (ASX:ELT, OTC:ELTLF) has kicked off a 1,000-metre exploration drilling campaign at its Oropesa Tin Project in Spain, targeting additional mineralisation outside the 2021 mineral resource estimate (MRE).
Timely exploration
The eight-hole exploration drill program will target shallow extensions to Oropesa’s mineral resource at the north-west and south-east ends of the deposit and was designed based on results from the recent 10-hole infill drilling and 2022 geotechnical program on site.
The program is well timed, coming on the back of a resurgent tin price that is sitting at US$29,000 per tonne on the London Metals Exchange and roughly US$35,000 per tonne on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, supporting Oropesa’s project economics.
The company is awaiting one batch of assays to finalise an update to the 2021 MRE and support a definitive feasibility study (DFS).
Return to fundamentals
Elementos managing director Joe David said the renewed exploration at Oropesa came at an exciting time for the company amid DFS development and a surging tin price.
“We are advancing rapidly towards completing the DFS and increasing the confidence of the Mineral Resource Estimate,” David said. “However, Oropesa remains prospective for additional mineralisation so it’s quite exciting to kick off this exploration drilling program which will test extensions to our current mineral resource.
“Additional mineralisation, if intersected, should give our shareholders extra confidence that Oropesa’s mineral resource is yet to be fully defined and the possibility that additional mineralisation and therefore mine life may exist outside the known mineralisation.
“Exploration is underway during a time when the tin price is surging, based on what appears to be a return to fundamental supply-demand analysis which shows a significant deficit in the tin market from 2024-2025 onwards,” he said.