
Denarius Metals Corp. (TSX-V: DSLV) (OTCQX: DNRSF) announced that it has received the final assays for 42 drill holes, mainly in-fill holes, totaling approximately 13,225 meters, from the Phase 2 surface validation and in-fill drilling program on its polymetallic Lomero Project in southern Spain. To date, Denarius Metals has completed approximately 41,850 meters of drilling in 128 drill holes, including twinning of historical drill holes. The in-fill phase, totaling 23,920 meters and representing 57% of the total drilling program, is now complete. A final 4,000 meters validation drilling campaign, designed to finish verifying the high-grade underground drill holes drilled in the 1980s by Indumetal/Billiton, is in progress. The full drilling results will be incorporated into the geological model and will be integrated in the Mineral Resource Estimate update to be completed in conjunction with a preliminary economic assessment in the second half of 2023.
Key takeaways from the exploration work carried out at the Lomero Project to date include:
Serafino Iacono, Executive Chairman and CEO of Denarius Metals, commented, “We are encouraged by the Phase 2 drill assays validating the lateral and horizontal continuity of the massive sulphide and semi-massive sulphide mineralized lenses and confirming the presence of higher-grade mineralized zones within the broader resource envelope. In addition, the initial drill assays from the validation drilling program in process are very promising and could potentially increase the grades in the current geological model. For the balance of 2023, activities at the Lomero Project will be focused on completion of the PEA, additional engineering studies to support the future development of the project and execution of the planned greenfield exploration program. The greenfield exploration program comprises 6,000 m of drilling aimed at increasing the tonnage of the MRE update based on Phase 1 and Phase 2 drilling, targeting the Las Merinas and Alianza areas located along two main shear zones discovered in 2022 by field mapping, located to the south and to the north of the shear zone that hosts the Lomero-Poyatos deposit and both of which are E-W trending.”
The Phase 2 surface validation and in-fill drilling program commenced in October 2022 and was completed in February 2023. It was designed to validate some selected historical in-fill holes drilled by Corporacion de Recursos Iberia in 2013 within the central sector of the existing mine and then conduct 50×50 m in-fill drilling to confirm the continuity of widths and grades within the massive sulphide and semi-massive sulphide lenses to upgrade the Inferred MRE to the Indicated category. Extension drilling was also carried out in 3 holes totaling 1,815 meters aimed at testing the combined TEM and gravity anomalies that occur down-dip of the main shear-zone hosting the Lomero-Poyatos deposit.
Key Highlights
The following table lists the key intercepts from the Phase 2 validation and in-fill drilling program since the issuance of the current MRE with an effective date of July 19, 2022:
Hole ID | Phase | From (m) |
To (m) |
Length (m) |
Cu % |
Pb % |
Zn % |
Ag g/t |
Au g/t |
CuEq % |
Min. Type |
LM22081 | Infill | 201.00 | 202.00 | 1.00 | 0.97 | 0.12 | 0.04 | 6 | 2.15 | 2.66 | MS |
LM22082 | Infill | 215.80 | 223.85 | 8.05 | 1.19 | 0.23 | 0.34 | 20 | 1.02 | 2.30 | MS |
LM22083 | Infill | 206.50 | 211.00 | 4.50 | 0.60 | 0.06 | 0.08 | 4 | 0.43 | 1.00 | MS |
LM22084 | Infill | 161.25 | 162.70 | 1.45 | 0.30 | 0.09 | 0.11 | 22 | 3.64 | 3.27 | MS |
“ | 169.00 | 175.30 | 6.30 | 1.43 | 0.44 | 0.47 | 16 | 1.34 | 2.83 | MS | |
LM22085 | Infill | 222.95 | 238.65 | 15.70 | 1.23 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 7 | 1.55 | 2.48 | MS |
“ | 246.45 | 248.10 | 1.65 | 1.86 | 0.15 | 0.17 | 15 | 0.61 | 2.55 | MS | |
LM22086 | Infill | 224.25 | 226.50 | 2.25 | 0.27 | 0.65 | 0.10 | 33 | 3.93 | 3.70 | MS |
“ | 226.50 | 231.50 | 5.00 | mine void fill | |||||||
“ | 240.70 | 243.10 | 2.40 | 0.46 | 0.26 | 0.74 | 10 | 1.02 | 1.59 | MS | |
LM22087 | Infill | 192.90 | 198.10 | 5.20 | 0.62 | 0.50 | 0.24 | 34 | 3.22 | 3.54 | MS |
“ | 198.10 | 201.30 | 3.20 | mine void fill | |||||||
“ | 201.30 | 204.20 | 2.90 | 0.75 | 0.06 | 0.21 | 4 | 0.33 | 1.11 | MS | |
LM22088 | Infill | 214.70 | 216.70 | 2.00 | 1.26 | 0.18 | 0.06 | 22 | 0.84 | 2.17 | MS-SM |
“ | 222.10 | 228.30 | 6.20 | 0.71 | 0.41 | 0.40 | 15 | 1.68 | 2.32 | SM-MS | |
“ | 228.30 | 234.80 | 6.50 | mine void | |||||||
LM22089 | Infill | 255.55 | 274.50 | 18.95 | 0.50 | 0.42 | 0.78 | 20 | 2.38 | 2.79 | MS-SH |
including | 259.25 | 265.75 | 6.50 | 0.67 | 1.13 | 2.06 | 48 | 5.03 | 5.75 | MS | |
LM22089 | 283.70 | 287.50 | 3.80 | 0.51 | 0.32 | 0.65 | 9 | 0.53 | 1.45 | MS | |
LM22090 | Infill | 201.30 | 203.30 | 2.00 | 0.44 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 13 | 0.94 | 1.29 | MS |
“ | 209.00 | 211.50 | 2.50 | 0.28 | 0.82 | 0.59 | 102 | 3.81 | 4.52 | MS | |
“ | 211.50 | 213.80 | 2.30 | mine void | |||||||
LM22091 | Infill | 236.10 | 249.10 | 13.00 | 1.20 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 12 | 1.61 | 2.55 | MS |
including | 236.10 | 242.80 | 6.70 | 1.86 | 0.10 | 0.03 | 21 | 2.85 | 4.22 | MS | |
LM22093 | Infill | 270.90 | 282.70 | 11.80 | 0.43 | 0.54 | 0.40 | 22 | 2.24 | 2.58 | MS-SM |
including | 270.90 | 276.65 | 5.75 | 0.65 | 0.85 | 0.27 | 36 | 3.80 | 4.12 | MS-SM | |
LM22095 | Infill | 279.15 | 289.30 | 10.15 | 0.64 | 0.47 | 0.97 | 29 | 3.34 | 3.80 | MS-SH |
LM22096 | Infill | 274.40 | 281.80 | 7.40 | 0.56 | 0.63 | 2.06 | 31 | 3.59 | 4.28 | MS-SM |
LM22097 | Infill | 222.60 | 225.85 | 3.25 | 0.15 | 0.88 | 1.63 | 25 | 0.54 | 1.49 | SM |
LM22098 | Infill | 34.75 | 36.60 | 1.85 | 0.67 | 0.21 | 0.17 | 14 | 1.12 | 1.74 | SH |
LM22099 | Infill | 205.90 | 207.40 | 1.50 | mine void | ||||||
“ | 207.40 | 209.30 | 1.90 | 0.48 | 0.33 | 0.75 | 14 | 2.41 | 2.72 | MS | |
LM22100* | Infill | 75.30 | 78.30 | 3.00 | 0.12 | 0.18 | 0.23 | 9 | 1.24 | 1.03 | SM-LH |
“ | 78.30 | 81.20 | 2.90 | mine void | |||||||
LM22103 | Infill | 249.55 | 256.20 | 6.65 | 0.32 | 0.95 | 2.04 | 37 | 3.79 | 4.32 | MS |
including | 249.55 | 251.70 | 2.15 | 0.40 | 1.29 | 2.66 | 52 | 5.09 | 5.77 | MS | |
LM22104 | Infill | 309.20 | 310.80 | 1.60 | 0.05 | 0.36 | 0.57 | 13 | 0.84 | 1.06 | STKW |
LM22105 | Infill | 343.70 | 345.70 | 2.00 | 0.63 | 0.23 | 0.64 | 9 | 0.56 | 1.38 | MS |
LM22109 | Infill | 162.15 | 168.80 | 6.65 | 1.55 | 1.55 | 1.08 | 49 | 2.83 | 4.84 | MS |
LM22110 | Infill | 158.80 | 159.60 | 0.80 | 0.61 | 5.05 | 10.15 | 104 | 2.72 | 7.83 | SH |
“ | Infill | 166.30 | 168.80 | 2.50 | 0.26 | 6.12 | 11.01 | 95 | 4.01 | 8.86 | MS |
LM22112 | Infill | 173.10 | 175.00 | 1.90 | 0.23 | 0.50 | 2.01 | 14 | 2.41 | 2.84 | MS-DISS |
LM22113 | Infill | 108.90 | 111.20 | 2.30 | 0.28 | 3.43 | 7.54 | 88 | 5.30 | 8.10 | MS |
LM22116 | Infill | 62.10 | 66.20 | 4.10 | 0.16 | 1.62 | 1.54 | 59 | 3.04 | 3.86 | SH-MS |
including | 64.50 | 66.20 | 1.70 | 0.29 | 3.68 | 3.56 | 127 | 5.62 | 7.69 | MS | |
LM22119 | Infill | 263.00 | 264.00 | 1.00 | 0.56 | 0.15 | 0.84 | 12 | 0.73 | 1.50 | SM |
LM22120 | Infill | 221.45 | 225.90 | 4.45 | 0.30 | 1.20 | 1.69 | 58 | 5.58 | 5.80 | MS |
“ | 238.30 | 240.30 | 2.00 | 0.14 | 2.26 | 3.63 | 18 | 0.15 | 2.03 | STKW | |
LPDV002 | Validation | 276.30 | 286.55 | 10.25 | 0.27 | 4.79 | 9.82 | 161 | 6.82 | 10.96 | MS |
including | 277.30 | 281.90 | 4.60 | 0.32 | 4.61 | 9.25 | 176 | 9.66 | 13.04 | MS |
Notes:
(1) The holes were drilled at -45 to -80 degrees from the horizontal. Grades are for semi-massive sulphide to massive sulfide intersections and some stockwork and shear zones. Sample interval grades over CuEq >1% are reported. The width is the sample length and is not necessarily the true width of the intersection. All base and precious metal grades are uncut and are not diluted to a minimum mining width.
(2) The following holes returned intervals grading <1% CuEq and so are not listed in the table: LM22092, LM22094, LM22101, LM22102, LM22106, LM22107; LM22108, LM22111, LM22114, LM22115, LM22117, LM22118, LM22121 and LPDV003.
(3) Equivalent copper grade (CuEq%) was calculated using prices of US$1,800/oz gold, US$25/oz silver, US$3.55/lb copper, US$1.00/lb zinc and US$0.90/lb lead. No adjustments were made for recovery as the project is at an exploration stage and metallurgical data to allow for estimation of recoveries is not yet available.
(4) MS: massive sulfides; SM: semi-massive sulfides; STKW: stockwork; DISS: disseminated; SH: shear-zone.
(5) LM22100 partial reassays by ALS are pending (see QAQC below).
Please refer to the attached illustrative images (Attachments 1 to 7) showing (i) the location of drill holes, (ii) the location of the best copper, lead and zinc drill holes and (iii) five cross sections for drill holes LM22084, LM22088, LM22120, LPDV002, LM22115.
Qualified Persons Review
Dr. Stewart D. Redwood, PhD, FIMMM, FGS, Senior Consulting Geologist to the Company, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure or Mineral Projects and prepared or reviewed the preparation of the scientific and technical information in this press release. Verification included a review of the quality assurance and quality control samples, and review of the applicable assay databases and assay certificates.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
The Lomero-Poyatos samples were prepared by ALS Labs (ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015) at their facilities in Seville, Spain and assayed in Clonmel, Ireland. Gold was assayed by 30 g fire assay with AAS finish, while silver and base metals were analyzed in a multi element analysis of base metal ores and mill products by strong oxidizing digestion and ICP-AES finish. Blank, standard and duplicate samples were routinely inserted and monitored for quality assurance and quality control.
As part of its Quality Assurance and Quality Control procedures, Denarius Metals sent 331 pulps and coarse rejects at the end of Phase 2 of drilling to ALS Labs for umpire analysis to check the results from the primary laboratory, AGQ. The results from ALS showed excellent correlation for all elements for Phase 1 drilling. However, certain deviations were observed for the Phase 2 drilling results, in particular for gold fire assay and lead. Following a thorough review of internal laboratory QA/QC procedures, and confirmation assays received from a third laboratory, SGS in Huelva, Spain, the Company decided to send 100% of sample pulps from the massive and semi massive sulphide zones, plus 50% of the stockwork zones, from the
Phase 2 drilling to ALS for check assays. In addition, 20% of massive sulphide samples, 10% of semi-massive sulphide samples, and 5% of stockwork samples from Phase 1 of drilling were sent to ALS for check assays. A total of 514 samples were sent to ALS for check assays.
The check assays received from ALS confirmed that Phase 1 results, as reported by the Company, are reliable. However, the check assays confirmed that there is a bias in the Phase 2 assays of the primary laboratory for gold and lead. Therefore, the AGQ results for Phase 2 were discarded and it was decided only to use results from ALS for Phase 2 drilling. The remainder of the Phase 2 stockwork zone samples are currently being reassayed by ALS for completeness. This affects one significant intersection in hole LM22100 which is reported in the table above as pending reassay results. However, given the low-grade nature of the stockwork mineralization, it is not anticipated the results will demonstrate any material differences. In addition, ALS has been designated as the primary laboratory for all future assays.
About Denarius Metals
Denarius Metals is a Canadian junior company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and eventual operation of polymetallic mining projects in high-grade districts, with its principal focus on the Lomero Project in Spain. The Company signed a definitive option agreement with Europa Metals Ltd. in November 2022 pursuant to which Europa has granted Denarius Metals two options to acquire up to an 80% ownership interest in the Toral Zn-Pb-Ag Project, Leon Province, Northern Spain. The Company’s 100%-owned Zancudo Project in Colombia provides an opportunity to develop near-term production and cash flow through local contract miners and long-term growth through exploration.
Attachment 1 – Location of drill holes reported in this press release (numbered holes).
Attachment 2 – Location of drill holes showing Cu and Pb/Zn enrichment of the deposit.
Attachment 3 – Cross section for drill holes LM22084 and LM22088 showing significant Cu mineralization.
Attachment 4 – Cross section for drill holes LPDV002 and LM22120 showing high Pb/Zn grades associated to high Au grades.
Attachment 5 – Cross section for drill hole LM22103 showing high Zn and Au grades at westernmost end of the permit.
Attachment 6 – Cross section for drill hole LPDV002 validating Indumetal/Billiton drill hole L5W2 exceptional high grades.
Attachment 7 – Geophysical cross section for drill hole LM22115 showing TEM conductivity (bottom) and gravity profile (top). Hole LM22115 tested a thick zone of conductivity which is interpreted to be a stockwork feeder zone.
Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. (TSX:ASCU) (OTCQX:ASCUF) an... READ MORE
Emerita Resources Corp. (TSX-V: EMO) (OTCQB: EMOTF) (FSE: LLJA) c... READ MORE
Abcourt Mines Inc. (TSX-V: ABI) (OTCQB: ABMBF) announces the re... READ MORE
Lundin Mining Corporation (TSX: LUN) (Nasdaq Stockholm: LUMI) rep... READ MORE
Delivered on all key guidance metrics Achieved record free cash f... READ MORE