Avrupa Minerals starts drilling at Kosovo gold Slivovo project

Avrupa Minerals announced that the 2017 drilling campaign on the Slivovo Project in Kosovo has started.

Peshter Mining JSC (85% Byrnecut International; 15% Avrupa Minerals) has two core rigs running on the property drilling multiple targets. As noted in the AVU news release of February 3, 2017, the drilling is planned as a 3-phase, results-dependent program. The drilling program is designed to discover, delineate, and define further high grade (defined in the Slivovo Project Study as 5 g/t gold or greater) gold resources at the Slivovo deposit in order to potentially create an economic mining solution for the Project. Assuming continued success, the 3-phase program aims to add at least 250,000 ounces of gold from a number of previously-known and new targets located close to and around the present deposit. Cost estimate for the full 3-phase program, totaling 30,000 meters, is approximately C$ 8.3 million. Byrnecut International will fully fund the program.

At this time, Phase One is planned for 17 diamond drill holes, totaling close to 5,700 meters. The targets to be tested include a deep (between 100 and 300+ meters from the surface) geophysical anomaly discovered during the 2016 work program, several shallow (less than 100 meters from the surface) geophysical anomalies, the Sandstone Gossan, Gossan Extension SE, Main Gossan Offset, the Buena Oro soil anomaly zone, and the Dzemail Zone.

Paul W. Kuhn, President and CEO of Avrupa Minerals, commented, “We are pleased with our partner’s progress and their commitment to increase the size of the Slivovo gold deposit to a point where a mining solution can be achieved for the Project. This phase is a combination of close-in resource upgrade and near-resource exploration at several compelling targets discovered during the previous three years of work at Slivovo.”

Avrupa’s partner at the Slivovo Gold Project in Kosovo is fully funding the program, allowing Avrupa to dilute its ownership in the JV operating company Peshter Mining JSC. If AVU ownership goes below 10%, the interest in the project converts to a 2% NSR.