Variscan has 18 more drill targets on the menu at San Jose

Variscan has expanded its inventory of drill-ready targets at the San Jose zinc-lead mine in Spain after completing a structural mapping survey.

The results have not only identified 18 additional infill and step-out drill targets, it has also constrained and delineated the structural controls on zinc mineralisation while confirming existing drill targets.

Variscan Mines (ASX:VAR) also noted that the survey has highlighted regional potential for further undeveloped zinc mineralisation along the 9km northeast oriented Novales-Udias Trend as well as sub-parallel trends to explore.

“While preparing for the next phase of underground drilling, we’ve advanced our understanding of the geological structure, its applicability and relevance to mineralisation, as well as refining orientations for new drill targets,” managing director Stewart Dickson said.

“This work is a valuable tool with application at the San Jose Mine as well as regional exploration.

“The results of the fieldwork and analysis have generated multiple drill-ready exploration targets, supported by the evaluation of available datasets including our substantial historical drilling archive.”

Dickson added that the company’s recent drilling has highlighted that the depth of old producing mines in this area remain untested.

The company has already underlined the potential for a major discovery at San Jose with underground drilling at the growing La Caseta trend delivering high-grade zinc and lead.

Exploration potential and next steps

Variscan notes that the fault geometry and their periodicity can be used to predict new zones of high-grade mineralisation.

It added that determining a fault-intensity factor will be useful, applied over the regional licence areas as a tool for targeting new areas of zinc mineralisation.

A follow-up underground drilling campaign is expected to start soon.

This article was developed in collaboration with Variscan MInes, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.