Avrupa Starts Phase 2 Drilling Program at Covas Joint Venture

Avrupa Minerals (CVE:AVU) says it has started phase 2 diamond drilling program at its Covas tungsten joint venture in northwest Portugal, which is operated by the Canadian company and fully funded by partner Blackheath Resources (CVE:BHR).

The new diamon drilling program, which will include up to 2,000 metres of drilling at up to 19 separate locations, will aim to expand known deposits and mineralization around the Covas property.

This latest round of drilling follows the previous phase 1, which the partners completed earlier this year.

"We are excited about the start-up of Phase 2 drilling at Covas. After good success in the Phase 1 diamon drilling program, we have developed a number of new targets designed to enlarge and upgrade the known tungsten mineralization in our key areas, as well as several other new areas," said Avrupa president and CEO, Paul W. Kuhn, in a statement released Thursday.

"We are eager to continue to expand the historic resources at Covas and move towards the next phase in the exploration and development of the project."

Specifically, the phase 2 program will focus on step-out expansion targets in several of the known tungsten-bearing skarn zones that were found in the previous round, the company said. It will start with the Lapa Grande area, following on results from phase 1 which included an intercept of 2.89% tungsten over 5.10 metres. The Telheira deposit will also be drilled after results of 2.11% tungsten over 7.98 metres.              

Covas is a past-producing tungsten mine, and remaining historic resources on the property have been estimated at 922,900 metric tonnes of 0.78% tungsten by Union Carbide in 1980, based on work including 327 drill holes on the property. Avrupa says mineralization is open to expansion.

The price of tungsten has increased significantly in recent years and is currently approximately $41 per kilogram of contained tungsten trioxide, according to the Canadian junior explorer's statement.  

Avrupa, which has properties in Portugal, Kosovo and Germany, holds a total of 16 exploration licenses in these European countries, including 10 in Portugal. It operates three joint ventures in Portugal, including the Covas partnership with Blackheath and the Alvalade joint venture with Antofagasta Minerals in the southern part of the country.        

Earlier this year, it signed a third deal to option out its Arga tungsten-gold project to tungsten explorer Blackheath, giving Blackheath the option to acquire up to an 85 per cent interest in the property over several years.


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