Ibero Mining Corp (TSX-V:IMC) CEO Karim Rayani talked with Proactive about the company's upcoming rebranding to from EuroPacific Metals, a strategic move to better align with their focus on the Iberian Peninsula and the mineral-rich Pyrite Belt, covering regions in Portugal and Spain.
In the interview, Rayani emphasized the significance of this change, noting that Ibero Mining is poised to become a key player in copper and gold exploration, with an emphasis on brownfield projects.
Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. Joining me now is Karim Rayani, the CEO of EuroPacific Metals, at least for the time being. How are you?
Karim Rayani: Good to see you again, Steve.
I mention "for the time being" because EuroPacific has announced that you're making a name change to Ibero Mining Corp (TSX-V:EUP). Is that to better align with where the company is headed?
Absolutely. The company needed a rebranding. I stepped on as CEO just shy of a year ago, and we’ve made a number of changes. Ibero will focus on the Iberian Peninsula, including the Pyrite Belt, which stretches from Portugal to Spain. It’s one of the most mineral-rich systems for copper and gold.
So, is that where the company will be focusing most of its work?
Yes, 100%. The company is focused on Europe, with 90% of our attention on the Pyrite Belt. We hold several brownfield projects and are currently drilling the Miguel Vazquez project, a past producer. We’ve identified between 25 to 50 million tons at surface. In a recent program, we achieved grades as high as 7.5% copper, which is one of the highest-grade systems in the Pyrite Belt.
That’s impressive. So, what can we expect next from this project?
We have two more holes coming out soon. We’re compiling a resource calculation based on these results, and we’ll have a clearer idea of the tonnage down to 200 meters.
What’s next for Ibero Mining? Are you continuing work this year, or will this set you up for 2025?
I’m heading to the project tomorrow to organize the second phase of drilling. We’ll keep progressing. We also have a number of gold assets we renegotiated for better terms. So, we’ll be running both gold and copper projects concurrently.
Quotes have been lightly edited for style and clarity