Altoro Metals (ASX:ARO) reports underground drilling at its Novales-Udías Zinc Project in Spain has revealed the Emilia mineralised zone extends over 100m in width.
Assays are expected shortly for drill core from nine underground holes at Emilia, which have been shipped to ALS Seville for analysis.
Underground drilling at the nearby Udías sector has also returned mineralised drill core intervals over multiple metres, with results expected to be released alongside the Emilia assays.
Altoro intends to unify the historical workings of San José, Udías, Emilia, and Margarita into a single project for its upcoming JORC mineral resource estimate (MRE) upgrade. The company notes that the original mine-restart study incorporated only central historical workings.
It adds that “the sheer scale and multidirectional nature” of the mineralisation indicate that the Emilia system remains “significantly under-drilled”.
Altoro has secured landowner access agreements for a 20-hole surface drilling campaign across 15 confirmed pads, set to begin following the maiden program at its wholly owned Guajaraz Project.
Resource modellers Asturmine have also been engaged to design an optimised drill-spacing model to convert newly identified widths into measured and indicated resource categories.
Altoro targets completing the JORC MRE upgrade by Q1 2027.
With the London Metal Exchange zinc price recently breaking above US$4,000 ($5,683) per tonne, the company is accelerating the permitting process for the Novales-Udías Project restart.
In light of this, Altoro has also appointed a senior mining engineer to assist with finalising the mine, plant, and restoration plans for submission to the Cantabrian mining authorities by year-end.
Novales-Udías sits within a 12km mineralised trend located 9km from the Reocín Mine and within trucking distance of Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN) San Juan de Nieva zinc smelter.
Altoro Metals is a mineral explorer focused on zinc, lead, copper, silver, gold, and uranium projects in Spain and Australia.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Main image: Altoro Metals
