The Novales-Udias Project
Through the acquisition of the Novales-Udias Project, Variscan is targeting a near term zinc production opportunity across this large tenement holding of 68.3 km2 (including a number of granted exploitation concessions). With access and infrastructure all in place, the project is within trucking distance from the Asturias zinc smelter.
The Novales-Udias Project is located in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (approximately 30km from the regional capital, Santander) which hosts five mineralised districts of which the Santander district hosts the Reocin Mine and the Novales-Udias Project.
The exploitation concessions acquired by Variscan cover a contiguous area of 6,830 hectares of which 5,580 was awarded via a successful tender process in 2018 and a further 1,250 hectares was acquired in 2018.
The Novales-Udias Project has relatively well documented geology, exploration data and production performance information relating to previous mining activity. Among this, the Novales Mine – with underground galleries that are accessible and stable - is the principal former mine in the tenement area. The Udias area is under-explored and has the potential for large-scale discoveries.
Significantly, the project is located only some 10km from the historic Reocin Zn-Pb mine, where production is documented to have spanned over 100 years with Reocin hosting the largest known Mississippi-Valley type (“MVT”) deposit in the world. Production ceased in 2003 when the prevailing zinc price was US$790/tonne compared to current prices of approximately US$2500/tonne (July 2019).
Importantly, the Company is working closely with the local community and a government that are highly supportive of the project due to the region’s historic mining activity.
With an extensive tenement position over some of the most prospective zinc geology in the world, Variscan’s highly prospective Spanish projects provide excellent potential for the discovery of a tier 1 zinc project. The primary focus following the completion of the transaction will be the search for MVT deposits within the Novales-Udias Project in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin Stewart Dickson, CEO Variscan
