Variscan Mines (ASX:VAR) has begun underground drilling at the former operational Udias Mine in northern Spain, which offers a “substantial” brownfield opportunity.
The drilling program will be ongoing and is expected to contribute to a further updated mineral resource estimate for the combined Novales-Udias Project in mid-2025.
Variscan Mines remains on track to update the MRE in the near future.
CEO Stewart Dickson says with drilling kicking off, the company is poised to unlock value from one of the “highest grade” development stage zinc deposits in Europe.
“We do so with confidence as results from historical face sampling and drilling show excellent grades most of which are outside the existing MRE model,” Dickson says.
Dickson adds that the acquisition and interpretation of historical data has been value-accretive.
“It has given us operational leverage as we believe that a sizable tonnage of high-grade zinc sulphide mineralisation remains and has been untouched for nearly a century.”
Further, a mine restart study for the San Jose Mine can now progress. The company anticipates to provide updates following the publication of the updated MRE.
The mine complex has not been previously drilled by Variscan, while the southern part of Udias has never been drilled at all.
The Udias Mine complex is directly linked underground to the San Jose Mine. Both mines sit on the 12km-long Novales-Udias trend.
Following yesterday’s (14 November) announcement, Variscan Mines’ share price spiked 57.14% to $0.011 as of 3.30pm AEDT.
Variscan Mines is a natural resources company focused on acquiring, exploring, and developing strategic mineral projects. The company has assets in Spain, Chile, and Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Variscan Mines
