Page 56 - pd297-Sept21-mag-web

eURoPe focUs

Variscan in deep thought

in Spain

here may be a “boatload of work” to “We took a tactical pause after that body, keep finding extensions and trends
Tdo before any mining decisions are last round of drilling and reflected on our and find the full extent of mineralisation.
made but for Variscan Mines Ltd manag- exploration success,” he said. “We have That way it will be fully de-risked.”
ing director Stewart Dickson, the com- done a lot of structural work and now we The recently launched programme will
pany’s recent high-grade drilling results are ready to go drilling again. I am ex- do much of that work with drilling expect-
definitely deliver one thing – options. cited by the new ideas of the geologists.” ed to test vertical and lateral extensions
“‘Grade is king’ is an old adage for a Historical mining at San Jose took of the San Jose mineralisation and ex-
reason; grade gives you choices about place above the existing underground plore newly identified structural targets.
how you mine and the scale of mining, adit but Variscan has chosen to focus A geophysical survey will also be con-
you can lower capex and cash costs and on depth and lateral extensions. Dickson ducted on the Buenahora licence area to
produce higher margins,” Dickson told said the recent drilling proved there was the south-west of San Jose, with a view
Paydirt. ample opportunity below the known min- to drilling targets from surface later in the
Dickson’s enthusiasm has been eralisation. year.
fuelled by a series of high-grade hits at “It is an area which has never been “That is an area which has not been
Variscan’s San Jose base metal project drilled before,” he said. “Above us there tested for decades, so we are keen to get
in northern Spain. is 2km by 1km of development, so if we going there as well,” Dickson said.
The company’s June quarterly report are right and we have a similar size tar- Variscan’s rapid progress in the last 18
showcased the high-grade nature of get below us still to test that equates to a months is contrary to the common per-
recent intercepts with results including lot of potential tonnes.” ception of Spain and the rest of Europe
16.9m @ 12.5% zinc and 2% lead, 23m Just how many tonnes will not be as a place where it is difficult to explore.
@ 11.51% zinc and 3.72% Dickson said he under-
lead, 18m @ 9.87% zinc stood perceptions about
and 3.24% lead, and 9m @ operating on the continent
8.45% zinc and 4.3% lead. but advised investors to
Dickson said the com- take a more considered
pany had been “excited but approach.
not surprised” by the string “Europe gets general-
of high-grade hits. ised in much the same way
“The results are no sur- Africa does. Investors for-
prise because we did our get it is not one jurisdiction,
homework,” he said. “We they definitely need to be
have 90,000m of histori- more nuanced and look at
cal data as well as our own projects on a case-specific
which allowed us to make basis,” he said. “In Spain,
better decisions with drill- mining is regulated on a
ing.” regional basis, and I can
Varsican’s ability to hit say Cantabria is a great
high-grade zones has province to operate in with
been aided by access to an strong government sup-
existing adit, used for min- port, we’ve had no problem
ing operations until 1997. Variscan’s tenements in northern Spain are ideally located between the with the authorities at all.”
“The focus has been on operating Asturia zinc smelter and the historic Reocin zinc-lead mine General attitudes to-
drilling from underground wards mining are also
positions because of the efficiency of quantified for some time. Dickson said changing on the continent. The pandem-
the drilling,” Dickson said. “The holes are the company was conscious of the need ic has brought raw material supply chain
short but hit mineralisation very quickly. to produce a resource for San Jose but vulnerability into sharp relief and govern-
That is a real advantage when drilling didn’t want to pull the trigger too early. ments are scrambling to ensure Europe
these Mississippi Valley-type [MVT] de- “We have a boatload of work to get can access the metals it needs for its
posits, where you encounter high-grade through before we put some econom- post-COVID investment programme.
pockets then barren rock.” ics around it, and we still have to do a lot “There is a growing convergence of
Drilling success inevitably breeds con- more exploration to do the asset justice,” government policies and community atti-
fidence. With the company assured of he said. “We’ve seen in other projects tude when it comes to mining in Europe,”
the geological model at San Jose – multi- companies push to get a resource but Dickson said. “You need to tread lightly,
ple horizons of mineralisation in a series then underwhelm the market because carefully, responsibly and inclusively but
of vertically stacked, flat-lying lenses in the resource hasn’t met expectations. local communities certainly have more
the classic MVT style – Dickson headed We want to follow the example of De buy-in, which is a good thing for the in-
back to Spain in August enthused by the Grey [Mining Ltd] or SolGold [plc], let’s dustry.”
prospects in front of Variscan. be comfortable in the quality of the ore-
– Dominic Piper

Page 56 SePTeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT