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(Alliance News) - Europa Metals Ltd said Thursday it has received the results of the second phase of metallurgical testwork on the Toral project in Spain, which demonstrate the potential for high-grade saleable and marketable lead and zinc concentrate.
Shares in Europa Metals were 16% higher at 0.0185 pence on Thursday in London, while its Johannesburg shares were flat at ZAR0.01.
The Europe-focused lead, zinc and silver developer said the report from Wardell Armstrong International revealed high-grade recovery results, with 84% lead recovery to a 60% lead concentrate, 87% silver recovery to 1,350 parts per million within lead concentrate, and 77% zinc recovery to a 59% zinc concentrate.
Europa Metals said that no firm conclusions can be drawn at this point. However, alongside the saleable lead and zinc, the high grade of silver contained within the lead concentrate could result in attractive payment terms from potential future off-takers.
Looking ahead, Europa Metals will immediately start an analysis of ore sorting as an optimisation route, which the report's findings presented as a viable possibility.
The company will undertake a further metallurgical test on mineralisation in the upper portion of the core body using x-ray transmission, which is expected to enhance the company's understanding of the concentrate characteristics.
"These further metallurgical results are excellent and show that Toral has the potential to produce high grade, saleable concentrates. We are particularly pleased with the increase in zinc recovery versus the first set of results and the significant silver credit," said Executive Director Laurence Read
"We believe that Toral has the potential to be a near term producer of silver, lead and zinc but that further work must be carried out on the flow sheet before looking to move towards future development," Read added.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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