This article is a sponsored feature from Mining.com.au partner Altoro Metals. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
Fresh off a rebrand from Variscan Mines, Altoro Metals (ASX:ARO) is sharpening its focus on ‘high-grade’ zinc with near-term production potential in Spain’s Basque-Cantabrian Basin.
Anchored by the historic Novales-Udías Project and complemented by exploration at Guajaraz, Altoro is positioning itself to ride the current zinc bull run while advancing a strategy built on resource growth, a mine restart, and strong regulatory engagement.
Mining.com.au recently caught up with Altoro’s executive team to hear about the company’s strategic shift, project details, upcoming milestones, and more.
Non-executive Chairman Anthony Wehby notes that the rebrand marks a turning point for the company.
“In Spanish, ‘al toro’ literally means ‘to the bull’ — it originates from the traditional phrase for stepping boldly into the ring, seizing the challenge, and taking the bull by the horns,” Wehby says.
“That proactive, direct mindset is exactly what the new identity represents.”
Wehby has over 50 years of experience across both executive and non-executive roles across the mining and finance industries. He’s joined on the executive team by Executive Director Vaughan (Tom) Kent and non-executive directors Frank Bierlein and Myles Campion.
After a while in the industry, Wehby says it becomes easier to spot a genuine business as opposed to a “perpetual science experiment”; and that he’s taken that expertise into Altoro.
“We are dissimilar to most small-cap mining companies in that we are not simply running early-stage exploration programs; we are building a dedicated Spanish mining business around high-grade zinc assets with genuine, near-term production potential.
“We wanted an identity that reflects our renewed vigour, our strengthened balance sheet, and our objective: to increase the size of our resource and greenlight a high-grade zinc mine in a proven jurisdiction.”
A critical mineral in a proven jurisdiction
Spain is a key producer of critical minerals for the European Union (EU), hosting vast resources of zinc, copper, tungsten, fluorspar, magnesite, and bentonite, among others.
The federal government is encouraging the growth of the industry, having launched the 2026–2030 Action Plan for the Sustainable Management of Mineral Raw Materials. This initiative — backed by €414 million ($668.43 million) in public investment — aims to strengthen the country’s position within the critical minerals supply chain, advancing a sustainable, innovative, and competitive mining sector.
Altoro’s engagement with the Spanish government and local regulators is giving it a leg up as the directors have already established a strong, collaborative relationship with the authorities in Cantabria.
According to Wehby, proactive government engagement makes all the difference for a junior looking to get a project moving. The Novales-Udías Project’s brownfield nature, sitting on an existing mining licence with historical operations, also means that the project is heavily de-risked from the get-go.
“We’ve hosted senior government representatives at the project and held productive meetings with the President of Cantabria and local mayors,” Wehby says.
“They recognise that restarting this mine provides tangible regional economic benefits through employment and local supply chains. We are moving forward carefully and collaboratively to ensure we meet every environmental and regulatory standard.”
Spain’s pro-mining regulatory regime, combined with the supportive macro environment, makes an ideal backdrop for Altoro Metals to advance its ‘high-grade’ zinc ambitions.
While there is a zinc bull run at the moment, Non-Executive Director Myles Campion notes that zinc is flying relatively under the radar, quietly outperforming most other major base metals.
Zinc recently hit a four-year high of around US$3,800 per tonne ($5,274.91). Stockpiles in LME warehouses are also incredibly tight at the moment — at around 93,000 tonnes — as smelters await concentrate material.
Campion has firsthand experience advancing zinc-lead assets in Europe, in particular with Toral Metals Iberia’s namesake project in the province of León. Toral Metals is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian junior Denarius Metals (CBOE:DMET).
“You realise very quickly that Europe is hyper-focused on securing critical, domestic mineral supply chains to combat this exact supply squeeze,” Campion says.
“The industry is struggling to replace mature zinc mines with new supply.
“Novales is strategically located just 80km from Glencore’s [LSE:GLEN] San Juan de Nieva zinc smelter. We are positioned to deliver secure, high-grade domestic zinc straight into the European market right when it needs it most.”
As Executive Director Vaughan (Tom) Kent explains, zinc is an absolutely vital but underappreciated asset, a “quiet workhorse of the global economy”.
“While the broader market wasn’t watching, zinc has quietly staged a massive bull run this year,” Kent says.
“People often overlook the fact that we actually need more zinc annually than a lot of other high-profile metals like lithium, cobalt, and uranium combined.”
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), zinc ranked the fourth most widely used metal worldwide in 2024. Key applications include steel galvanisation; zinc refinement; and the production of gallium and germanium, which are key inputs for advanced semiconductors and defence technologies.
The CSIS estimates the annual market value at around US$40 billion.
Novales-Udías steps back into the ring
Novales-Udías is a mine restart project with additional exploration upside potential.
Kent explains that the history of the project and the region provide Altoro with several strategic benefits, including significant sunk infrastructure, historical production data, and existing mining licences.
The Novales-Udías Project sits along a 12km mineralised trend that spans multiple historic mining centres, including Udías, San José, Emilia, and Margarita.
Kent notes that Altoro’s approach to Novales-Udías is highly methodical, with the company now finalising all remaining technical and economic work needed for formal regulatory submissions.
“Rather than committing to a rigid timeline for the restart just yet, our immediate commitment is to first increase the mineral resource estimate [MRE] across our newly drilled brownfield mine sites,” Kent says.
“We don’t need to prove the zinc is there; our job is to expand the footprint across all four of those historic centres and define the most efficient, technically sound way to bring production back online.”
The current Novales-Udías mineral resource is 3.4 million tonnes at 7.6% zinc (Zn) and 0.9% lead (Pb), with the San José mine hitting significant levels at 9.18% Zn and 1.80% Pb.
Non-Executive Director Frank Bierlein notes that the ‘high-grade’ nature of the system is also demonstrated by recent work at the historic Emilia Mine, where systematic underground channel sampling returned 2.65m at 21.1% Zn.
“This isn’t just about isolated high-grade numbers,” Bierlein says.
“We’re looking at a broader Novales zinc trend extending … more than 12km, with a significant portion of that trend still outside the current mineral resource.
“That combination of exceptional grades, established resources, historical production, and substantial exploration upside is what makes Novales such an exciting zinc project.”
Bierlein explains that the rocks in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin are a classic Mississippi Valley-type (MVT), carbonate-hosted zinc-lead system. This system is recognised globally for its ‘high-grade’ mineralisation and relatively simple mineralogy, with Novales-Udías showing most of these classic characteristics.
“The vastness of this system is something that keeps my geological mind awake at night — in a good way!”
Guajaraz campaign sparks polymetallic intrigue
Altoro’s Guajaraz Project is another brownfield exploration opportunity that Bierlein notes is in a very different geological setting than Novales-Udías.
The project’s licence is up for renewal this year, so the company’s activity here is focused on guiding future decisions on the asset.
Altoro currently has a maiden five-hole, 1,430m diamond drill campaign taking place at Guajaraz, which is focused on high-priority zinc, lead, silver, and copper targets.
The program is designed to test for deeper carbonate-hosted, replacement-style zinc mineralisation, in addition to extensions and sub-parallel structures that are associated with the historical La Unión mining area.
“We’ve deliberately designed the program to test the broader mineral system rather than simply drill into the old workings,” Bierlein says.
According to Bierlein, the La Unión mining district historically produced silver-rich lead and zinc sulphides, with historical workings extending to a depth of around 280m in multiple areas. Guajaraz itself remains relatively untested both at depth and along these adjacent historical structures.
The early information Altoro received from the drill core is helping refine the company’s view of the geology and other structural controls. Upcoming assay results from this maiden campaign will guide future decisions on how to proceed with the project.
While the core value proposition at Novales-Udías is the “exceptionally high-grade” zinc-lead mineralisation, Bierlein notes that historical concentrates at Guajaraz reportedly averaged around 70% Pb and 51% Zn, with silver credits of around 1,500–3,000 parts per million.
This polymetallic potential gives the company significant future optionality without taking away from its core near-term focus.
Campion notes that Altoro remains primarily focused on advancing Novales-Udías towards a restart.
“As we evaluate our broader portfolio, including our ongoing evaluation work at Guajaraz, understanding potential by-product contributions gives us a thoughtful lens on future asset growth once exploration and development milestones are met.”
Milestones: Altoro’s bull run playbook
Altoro is fully funded for what is shaping up to be the company’s most active period to date, with two projects currently advancing following a $5 million placement.
Kent explains that the company is now aggressively advancing exploration and development programs at Novales-Udías. Funding is earmarked for the completion of the formal operating submissions in Cantabria, key regulatory steps needed to advance the mine restart.
“At the same time, the funding comfortably covers our current maiden drilling activity at Guajaraz to help guide our future decisions on that licence,” Kent says.
“Beyond that, this financial strength gives us the agility to evaluate the broader market for other value-accretive opportunities as they arise.”
This sentiment is echoed by Wehby, who explains that Altoro’s immediate priority is to unlock the value of the portfolio of projects in Spain. He also notes that this success will also give the company the capacity to evaluate complementary projects for its growth-focused portfolio.
Kent describes the company’s catalyst pipeline as highly active, with the next key milestones being an updated and upgraded MRE for Novales-Udías.
“Alongside that resource growth, the major corporate value-driver will be the formal lodgement of our project application in Cantabria, which establishes the definitive regulatory pathway for bringing the mine back into production,” Kent says.
Results from the maiden drilling at Guajaraz will also help guide future decisions on that licence.
Campion stresses that timing is everything in this industry; and that with zinc entering a structural, multi-year supply squeeze, the macro cycle will be positive for the company.
“Zinc is quietly one of the most indispensable, heavily consumed base metals on earth, yet high-grade, brownfield assets in tier-one European jurisdictions are vanishingly rare.
“If you’re looking for pure-play, high-leverage exposure to a vital global commodity at precisely the right turn in the market cycle, Altoro is positioned right at the sweet spot.”
Wehby adds that Altoro’s proven corporate leadership is absolutely able to deliver on the potential of its assets. While top geology can help create shareholder value, a board and management team with the execution track record is needed to get a project to its full potential.
Altoro isn’t just playing in exploration anymore. This leadership team is actively building a base and precious metals business with strong development upside.
“The market timing is right, the team is in place, and the assets are exceptional,” Wehby says.
“So, as they say in Spain when it’s time to step into the ring and seize the moment: ¡Al toro!”
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au, Altoro Metals
