Emerita Sees Continued Success In Spain
Emerita Resources Corp (TSXV:EMO) continues to report excellent results from the Infanta drill program at its Iberia Belt West Project in Spain, which hosts three previously identified high-grade deposits: La Infanta, Romanera and El Cura. These are all open for expansion along strike and at depth.
On October 22, the company announced assays for the first step-out drill hole from the Infanta drill program and also the final in-fill drill holes. The significance of the in-fill program was to verify the historical drill results. They will now enable a proper 3D modelling of the deposit and will also provide additional data to be used for future metallurgical testing.
At Infanta, the step-out was conducted to expand the outer perimeter of the deposit, and the in-fill drilling was intended to confirm historical drill data within Infanta’s known mineralization zone. Step-out drill hole IN018 was drilled 40 metres to the west of the historical limits of the deposit and intersected 8.2 metres with a grade of 2.5% copper, 8.7% lead, 17.3% zinc, 223.5 g/t silver and 0.5 g/t gold. A second step-out hole was drilled 50 metres to the west of hole IN018 and intersected two zones of massive sulfide but assays have not been returned yet.
In-fill drill hole IN014 intersected 5.7 metres of 2.4% copper, 7.3 %lead, 13.4% zinc, 225 g/t silver and 0.6 g/t gold. The ongoing geophysical survey, which was suspended along with other exploration activities for the region’s hunting season, is expected to resume by the end of October.
Emerita plans to have five drill rigs operating by the end of 2021 and will include the Romanera deposit, El Cura, and other targets identified by previous geophysics work. The two drills currently on site will now focus on step-out drilling to increase the size of the deposit.
Emerita also recently provided investors with an update on the legal proceedings for the Aznalcóllar Project and the company is expecting a ruling by the Administrative Court of Andalucia in Emerita’s favour in the near future.
The Aznalcóllar Zinc Project is located in the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in the Andalusia region of southern Spain and is considered to be one of the world’s largest and most productive volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) structures. It has been mined for over a thousand years and has produced over 2000 million tons of ore.
Aznalcóllar is considered to be one of the world’s top undeveloped zinc deposits, and the project is essentially a world-class pre-production development asset. Here, the main deposit is referred to as Los Frailes, which contains a historical open pit mineral resource. Two other deposits exist on the property as well, which require further development. The Los Frailes mine operated during the 1990s until it closed due to a combination of tailings-related environmental failure and low metal prices.
After the Aznalcóllar site was rehabilitated, the government initiated a public tender process for the rights to the project and it was initially awarded to another major mining company, however Emerita believed that their bid was superior. It subsequently requested an investigation into the tender process for the property and filed a lawsuit in 2015.
In early 2021, the Spanish court concluded that the process was fraught with corruption, fraud and other malfeasance and rescinded the rights that were awarded and criminal charges were sought for the perpetrators and their enablers. In July 2021, a Spanish judge issued additional criminal indictments against the mining company and government officials who participated in undermining the public tender process for the project.
Under Spanish law, if a crime was committed during the tender process, the rights are then awarded to the next best qualified competing bid, which in this case was Emerita. Subsequently, Emerita has been waiting for the Administrative Court to conclude the process to formally award the rights to the Aznalcóllar Project to the company, which brings us to present day.
The company is planning to develop the deposit into an underground mining operation focused on mining the high-grade zones, which are estimated to contain 20 million tonnes at a grade of 6.65% zinc, 3.87% lead, 0.29% copper and 84 ppm silver. As a requirement of the project’s public tender process, Emerita submitted comprehensive. engineering, environmental and water management studies to the government, and now the company is expecting to be given the green light to proceed developing the Aznalcóllar project into an eventual producer.
Emerita is well financed, having completed a $20 million bought deal private placement in July 2021. Emerita has 182.42 million shares outstanding and due to the recent increase in the Company’s share price, a market capitalization now of $556.38 million. Even so, barring any unforeseen negative developments regarding the legal issues, Emerita Resources Corp still appears to be potentially undervalued relative to the potential value of the world-class assets it is developing.
Shares of Emerita Resources Corp last traded at $3.05.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Emerita Resources is a client of Canacom Group, the parent company of The Deep Dive. The author has been compensated to cover Emerita Resources on The Deep Dive, with The Deep Dive having full editorial control. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security.
