Elementos Limited (ASX:ELT) (OTCMKTS:ELTLF) (FRA:9EM) has started exploration drilling at its flagship Oropesa Tin Project in Spain as part of a wider optimisation program aimed at increasing the project’s overall resource, annual production rate and mine life.
The program follows the release of the Oropesa economic study in May, which positioned the project as a low-cost, globally significant new tin development with a prospective annual production of 2,440 tonnes of tin in concentrate over a 14-year mine life.
Optimising mineral resource
Elementos chairman Andy Greig said: “The economic study was positive and we’re confident that the tin resource at Oropesa could be far greater than currently known.
“Following the completion of the drilling program and wider optimisation works, a new JORC mineral resource will be prepared and Oropesa will be ready to progress into the feasibility study stage.”
Three main aims
The new drilling program will have three principal objectives:
➢ To convert existing inferred resources into indicated resources to improve the overall waste-to-ore stripping ratio;
➢ Confirmation of near-surface, possibly fault-controlled mineralisation that is currently excluded from the 2017 geological resource model; and
➢ Testing for additional near surface resources from exploration targets identified from IP geophysical survey anomalies.
Low-grade material to be included
The new geological resource estimate will include low-grade material that is currently outside the current 2017 JORC geological resource.
This inclusion will permit the inclusion of tin mineralisation in the dilution material in the mine schedule.
The current mine schedule has dilution at 10% at a 0% tin grade.
Sondeos & Perforaciones Industriales Del Bierzo, SA has been appointed the drilling contractor.
It has significant experience drilling at Oropesa, having been contracted for all exploration drilling work on the project since 2012.