25 Jul 2016 12:01
25 July 2016
W Resources Plc
("W" or the "Company")
New Portuguese Licence Granted at Monforte-Tinoca Copper Mine
W Resources Plc (AIM:WRES), the tungsten, copper and gold exploration and development company with assets in Spain and Portugal, is pleased to announce that it has been granted the Monforte-Tinoca Portuguese exploration licence, containing the Tinoca and Azeiteiros copper mines by the Portuguese Direction General for Energy & Geology (DGEG) under the Ministry of Economy & the Secretary of State for Energy.
Located in the Northern Alentejo region, c233km East of Lisbon and close to W's CAA / Portalegre copper-gold project, the Monforte-Tinoca exploration licence covers 496.19 km² and is highly prospective for copper and tungsten exploration and development.
Mining at Monforte-Tinoca has been recorded since the 19th century and was mined until 1935 with further exploration work carried out between the 1960s and 1999. A high-grade metamorphic Precambrian belt extends at least 60km in Portuguese territory and continues concealed below Tertiary / Quaternary covered rocks to the Spanish border. Typical massive sulphide mineralisation at Monforte-Tinoca is included within a 55m wide package of altered rocks with a strike extension of approximately 1km. The old workings suggest the presence of two lenses with thicknesses varying from less than a metre and up to 6 metres. The mica schists have been hydrothermally modified with a strong silica-chlorite-sericite alteration overprint. Azeiteiros VMS mineralisation occurs within a 20-40m corridor mapped on at least 300m along strike. This horizon has been intercepted by drilling down to 200m and is open at depth. Non-compliant estimated "reserves" based on Intermine drilling results (1971-1972) from Azeiteiros totalled 442,204t of sulphide mineralisation grading 2.24% Cu (Copper). The highest recorded assays were obtained at an interval of 4.5m grading 3.4% Cu.
In the central part of the permit (Santa Eulalia area), a Variscan alkaline granite intrusion occupies a significant areal extent with multiple mining works for Sn (Tin), W (scheelite, wolframite) and Ti (Ilmenite). The granite has been intruded into a thick Cambrian metasedimentary sequence that occupies a large part of this general area. Mineralisation occurs on large greisen and stockwork zones that tend to be aligned with NE-SW linears. Alluvial and elluvial operations are also visible in the area. This area contains significant old mining works dated mostly from World War II until the early seventies.
W will conduct an initial review of the primary copper along with tungsten and tin targets and will plan for drilling activities in 2017.
Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources said: "The addition of the 496 km² Monforte-Tinoca exploration licence adds a significant new copper exploration project to W, in a region we know well and have had significant recent success. Monforte-Tinoca was a successful small copper mine operation and this area and its surrounding structures provides a significant and potentially high-grade copper prospect to our Tungsten, Tin, Copper and Gold portfolio."
Enquiries:
W Resources Plc Michael Masterman T: +44 (0) 20 7193 7463 www.wresources.co.uk | Grant Thornton UK LLP Colin Aaronson / Jen Clarke / Harrison Clarke T: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100 |
SI Capital Andy Thacker / Nick Emerson T: +44 (0) 1483 413500 www.sicapital.co.uk | Gable Communications Justine James T: +44 (0) 20 7193 7463 M: +44 (0) 7525 324431 |
About Monforte-Tinoca
The Monforte-Tinoca exploration licence site is situated in the Alentejo region of Portugal, in the municipalities of Arronches, Campo Maior, Elvas and Monforte in the district of Portalegre, approximately 233 km East of Lisbon. The exploration licence has a surface area of 496.19 km² and is valid until 22 July 2021.
Technical information in this report and on the W website has been prepared in accordance with the JORC Code or defined by National Instrument 43-101 and approved for inclusion by Mr José Mario Castelo Branco, EuroGeol, who is a "qualified person" in respect of the AIM Rules for Companies with over 32 years' experience in the Exploration and Mining Geology industry. Mr Castelo Branco holds a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Porto in Portugal. He is also a member of the Portuguese Association of Geologists (Number 354), the European Federation of Geologists, the Society of Economic Geologists, the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits.