Dual ASX and London-listed Balkans precious and base metals play, Adriatic Metals has piled on more encouraging polymetallic drill hits at its historic Raska project in Serbia. The project’s Kizevak and Sastavci deposits continue to cough up broad intersections of near-surface, high-grade polymetallic mineralisation.
One of the stand-out assay results from 16 diamond core holes recently drilled at Kizevak was a 38-metre intersection going an average grade of 2.7 per cent zinc, 2.2 per cent lead, 30 grams per tonne silver and 0.6 g/t gold from 100m including 5m at 6.2 per cent zinc, 3.3 per cent lead, 66 g/t silver and 1.1 g/t gold.
Other notable intercepts from the recent round of drilling at Kizevak were 29m grading 2.6 per cent zinc, 1.2 per cent lead and 15 g/t silver from 2m including 15m at 4.3 per cent zinc, 1.9 per cent lead and 24 g/t silver, and 17m at 2.6 per cent zinc, 1.1 per cent lead and 11 g/t silver from 94m.
At nearby Sastavci, better intersections from three diamond holes were 45m at 3.3 per cent zinc, 1.0 per cent lead and 17 g/t silver from 17m including 18m at 5.5 per cent zinc, 1.9 per cent lead and 30 g/t silver, and 27.7m at 3.1 per cent zinc, 1.3 per cent lead, 22 g/t silver and 0.5 g/t gold from 13m including 12m at 5.3 per cent zinc, 2.6 per cent lead, 43 g/t silver and 1.0 g/t gold.
According to Adriatic, drilling in the central-north western section of the Kizevak deposit south-east of the historic open pit has unmasked a thick, continuous and consistently mineralised lens from surface to at least 160m down-dip – 100m below surface – and remains open.
The UK-based company’s confirmation drilling program in late 2020 focused on extensions of the lens beneath the limit of historic drilling and further assay results are pending.
Drilling at Sastavci, it says, has continued to encounter wide, high-grade mineralisation from surface at the base of the historic open-cut mine, hosted in much broader zones than historically reported.
Adriatic Metals Managing Director, Paul Cronin said: “Kizevak continues to grow with multiple exploration targets and near-surface resource potential. The elevated gold at depth is an encouraging sign and shows there is still a lot to learn about this deposit.”
“Sastavci has demonstrated excellent polymetallic grades from surface in a much wider zone of mineralisation than historically reported. This first phase of confirmation drilling at Sastavci has given us the confidence to explore the full extents of this well mineralised system in the coming months.”
Historical non-JORC mineral resource estimates were ascribed to the Kizevak and Sastavci deposits prior to Adriatic acquiring the Raska project in October last year. Kizevak hosts roughly 6.2 million tonnes of ore at 5.32 per cent zinc, 3.22 per cent lead and 48 g/t silver, and Sastavci 1.35 million tonnes of ore at 4.04 per cent zinc, 1.94 per cent lead and 30 g/t silver.
Adriatic hopes to deliver maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource estimates for the brownfields Kizevak and Sastavci polymetallic deposits in the current quarter.
The company is also progressing a definitive feasibility study on the proposed development of a mining and processing operation at its flagship Vares silver-zinc-lead project, located in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina approximately 200 kilometres from Raska as the crow flies.
Development CAPEX was forecast in the pre-feasibility study on Vares at US$173 million.
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By Matt Birney
