Mar 1 2011
Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:AVU) has report on work progress in Kosovo for the past seven months, since Avrupa's inception in July 2010.
Avrupa is advancing its prospects in Kosovo towards JV-ready status. The following is a detailed summary of project highlights. An update for the Company's Portugal program was released last week.
Avrupa's Kosovo exploration team, through the Company's 92.5% owned subsidiary Innomatik Exploration Kosovo ("IEK"), has long-term experience with the democratically-elected Kosovo government, with the United Nations and European Union administrators of the pre-independent country, and with the metallogeny and mineral deposits of the region. Avrupa, through IEK, is currently the most active metals' exploration group in Kosovo. There has been little modern, systematic exploration performed in Kosovo to date, leaving an opportunity for successful prospect and project generation. Avrupa continues to upgrade its two projects at Glavej and Kamenica, and has discovered two new prospective areas at Bajgora and Rezhanc. Avrupa applied for a third new license as well, which should be issued by the end of March 2011.
All of Avrupa's Kosovo properties have outcropping base metal mineralization and/or significant alteration zones. Most of the targets have not been previously drilled and have old workings of perhaps Roman and certainly Saxon age, to possibly early 20th century age in a number of locales.
Avrupa will drill the first round of targets in the Glavej and Kamenica licenses during Q2 of 2011. The immediate goal of the scout drilling program is to test for shallow silver/lead/zinc/gold mineralization in fault-related, carbonated-hosted, massive sulfide deposits. The drilling program will consist of up to 1,000 meters in 4 to 6 holes at four separate targets. As Avrupa progresses in its work in Kosovo, the ultimate goal is to delineate Stan Terg or Artana-size massive sulfide deposits.
Glavej (northern Kosovo, 40-45 kilometers north of Prishtine)
The Glavej license was renewed for two years under the new 2010 Kosovo Mining Law. The size of the license was reduced by 50%, according to the law, to 8.1 km2. The license lies close to the historic, and presently producing, Stan Terg1 base metal mine, which has operated intermittently for more than 1,000 years, and has reportedly produced more than 25 million metric tonnes of +10% Pb and Zn, and 80 g/t Ag.
Avrupa's team in Kosovo has generated two anomalous silver/lead/zinc targets on the license, Pogledalo and Spate. At Pogledalo, anomalous lead and zinc in soil geochemistry extends for over 800 meters of strike length and is partially coincident with ground geophysical anomalies and an outcropping gossan zone. The geochemical target area appears to be open along strike in both directions. At Spate, there is evidence of an old exploration tunnel, and locals report that massive sulfide mineralization is present in the old workings. This past fall Avrupa geologists completed detailed geological mapping and grid soil sampling at the Pogledalo target zone. Further information concerning the Pogledalo anomaly will be announced upon completion of ongoing geochemical and geological reviews and receipt of final analytical results.
Avrupa intends to drill up to 400 meters in 1-2 holes at Pogledalo in Q2 2011. The Company is currently selecting a European drilling contractor to complete the program. Avrupa is also making plans to access the Spate workings later in 2011. The object of the 2011 exploration program is to upgrade the target areas to joint venture-ready stage.
Kamenica (eastern Kosovo, 15-20 kilometers east of Prishtine)
The Kamenica license was also renewed for two years under the new Mining Law. The size of the license was reduced by 50% to approximately 45 km2. Targets in the Kamenica license are located 2 to 5 kilometers, along strike, from the historic Artana (Novo Brdo) silver/lead/zinc/gold mine. The Artana Mine1, also long-lived, has reportedly produced more than 18 million tonnes of +10% Pb and Zn, 140 g/t Ag, and 1 g/t Au, over its still-continuing operation.
Recent work at three Kamenica target areas, Grbes, Metovic, and Adjarovic, consisted of detailed geological mapping and upgrade of drill targets. All three targets consist of structurally controlled, carbonate replacement silver/lead/zinc+/-gold deposits similar to the Artana deposit. These targets are located along the same NNW-trending structural feature that controls the location of the Artana mineralization. The Metovic and Grbes targets consist of coincident geophysical and geochemical anomalies with a permissive geological host of massive, silty carbonate units cut by NW-trending Vardar Zone structures at the intersection of a NE-trending migrating caldera feature. Both target areas contain old workings and prospects. There is a large slag heap (+10,000 metric tonnes) located in the valley directly below the Grbes target area. The Adjarovic target is buried, based on strong geophysical anomalies, and is also located along the Artana structure.
Avrupa is planning to drill the three Kamenica targets after drilling at Pogledalo. The Company is planning for up to 600 meters of drilling in 3-4 holes. The goal of this drilling program, as at Pogledalo, is to upgrade the target areas to joint venture-ready stage.
Prospect Generation Program (Countrywide)
Use of LANDSAT 7 and GoogleEarth imagery, detailed knowledge of the structural controls of mineralization in Kosovo, publicly available regional geophysical and geochemical surveys, and publicly available geological/metallogenic maps of Kosovo are all keys to the successful project generation program initiated by Avrupa in the fall of 2010. Several potentially prospective areas were quickly identified as a result of this process. The areas were prioritized, and two areas immediately stood out. Avrupa submitted two applications covering these areas to the Kosovo Mining Bureau (ICMM) in the fall of 2010. The licenses were granted in January 2011. A third license application for another prospective area was submitted later in the fall, and this license may be issued as early as March 2011. Avrupa continues its evaluation of potential mineral targets in Kosovo, and expects to make further applications to cover other prospects as the year progresses.
Bajgora (northern Kosovo, 30-40 kilometers north of Prishtine)
The new Bajgora property, 76.5 km2 in size, is also located near the Stan Terg Mine in northern Kosovo. The prospect area was originally located by identifying obvious NW-trending Vardar structures intersecting with NE-trending ring shaped volcanic centers and associated caldera migration features. From the metallogenic map of Kosovo, Avrupa geologists recognized the presence of several reported mercury prospects, and then field-checked a lone gold anomaly generated from a regional stream sediment sampling program produced by the Kosovo government. The field follow-up led to the discovery of a large clay alteration area in the middle of the license application. Avrupa plans to upgrade the alteration zone with detailed soil sampling, prospecting, and geologic mapping, and delineate new target zones within the license utilizing a thorough stream sediment sampling program with geochemical and geological follow-up of new anomalies.
Rezhanc (southernmost Kosovo, 55-60 kilometers south of Prishtine)
The Rezhanc license is located in the so-called Macedonian porphyry belt, and covers slightly more than 19 km2 in a favorable geological environment for occurrence of copper and base metals deposits, and potentially gold. The area was reportedly explored for copper during the Yugoslav period, but no records are available. The license area is covered by rocks not usually associated with copper-gold mineralization, however sub-volcanic and possibly porphyry activity is indicated by the presence of ring-shaped fractures that may be related to updoming processes at shallow depth, as well as caldera collapse. Fracture-controlled copper oxide and copper carbonate mineralization is present at several locations, as are local zones of disseminated pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization. Avrupa's plan for Rezhanc, as winter conditions disappear, will be to conduct a thorough stream sediment program across the license, followed by detailed prospecting and anomaly follow-up, as at Bajgora.
As Avrupa strengthens its overall position in Kosovo, the company will continue the prospect generation program, and the likelihood of further applications is high. With four licenses in hand, soon to be five, and all containing surface base metal mineralization, Avrupa is poised to attract JV partners in a regional-style exploration program, anchored by advanced greenfields exploration projects at Glavej and Kamenica, and by brand-new exploration prospects at Bajgora and Rezhanc. The Company is actively searching for suitable partners in both North America and Europe.
In addition to primary generative work programs in Portugal and Kosovo, Avrupa continues to consider other potential metal-rich districts in politically stable jurisdictions around Europe, following a number of possibilities on an area by area basis for the time being. However, the Company does consider both Portugal and Kosovo as its prime exploration areas, due to the presence of world-class mineral belts in stable, mining-friendly countries, which are clearly under-explored using modern, systematic techniques and concepts. Avrupa considers both countries to be highly prospective for a variety of commodities, including precious and base metals, and locally, critical materials including tungsten and rare earth elements, and will continue to generate high-quality prospects in both locales.
Source: Avrupa Minerals Ltd.