BHP posts second straight year of record iron ore production, beats estimates
The world's largest listed miner said iron ore output from Western Australia on a 100% basis was 76.8 million tonnes in the three months to June 30.
Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:AVU) on Tuesday announced the acquisition of the Koritnik porphyry Cu-Au exploration license in southern Kosovo.
The permit covers approximately 76 km2 of copper and gold stream sediment anomalies draining the Sharr-Dragash intrusion complex and surrounding lands. Although there are known metals showings within the license, there are few, if any, records of historic or modern exploration in the area of the Koritnik license.
The company also said in a statement that it has completed an initial round of exploratory drilling in late 2011 on the Kamenica license, located in the historic Vardar Mineral Trend. Two core holes, totaling 382.6 meters, were completed at two separate targets located about three kilometers apart.
The most interesting of the two holes, at the Metovic target, intercepted multiple generations of visible Fe-Zn-Pb sulfide mineralization in pervasive disseminations and stockwork quartz veining, hosted by strongly altered, calcareous silt and sandstones over the entire 193.3-meter length of the hole.
The hole bottomed in altered quartz diorite porphyry and brecciated quartz diorite containing fragments of the porphyry. The widespread anomalous sulfide mineralization and strong alteration may indicate the presence of a possible large porphyry-style system within the Kamenica license.
The second hole, at the Grbes target, encountered pyritic gneisses from close to the surface to 120 meters depth, followed by sooty, pyritic black shales and graphitic schists to the bottom of the hole at 189.3 meters. These strongly altered rock units do not appear at the surface, and are of an older Vardar formation that has been uplifted in this portion of the exploration area. Further work is necessary to assist in targeting for a possible large mineral system.
Avrupa also completed a third hole late in 2011 at the Hazelnut Hill target on the Glavej exploration license. The hole intersected iron oxide-rich massive silica and silica breccia over the entire length of the hole to a depth of 139 meters. No anomalous base metal mineralization was present. Difficult drilling conditions and winter weather curtailed the drill hole.
Avrupa is now actively pursuing joint venture opportunities for the Kosovo program. The company has a strong land position in the Vardar Mineral Zone with four licenses totaling 166.3 km2 and one new copper-gold license totaling 75.7 km2 in the Sharr-Dragash intrusive complex. Avrupa intends to aggressively market its favorable advantage in the region into a strong joint venture that effectively brings the projects to the next level of exploration.
Avrupa Minerals Ltd. is a growth-oriented junior exploration and development company focused on aggressive exploration, using a prospect generator model, for valuable mineral deposits in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, including Portugal, Kosovo, and Germany.
