THE DRILL SERGEANT: Elementos (ASX: ELT) reported a zinc Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at the company’s Oropesa tin project in Spain.

Elementos delivered the MRE of 23.75 million tonnes at 0.42 per cent zinc (96% classified as Measured and Indicated Resources) following a detailed geological investigation into the continuity of the mineralisation.

The company explained the project’s tin MRE that was reported in February remains unchanged at 19.6 million tonnes at 0.39 per cent tin.

The company will now work on development of a by-product flow sheet to recover and produce a saleable zinc concentrate from material which would otherwise be sent to the tailings dam that it anticipates will deliver environmental, mining and economic benefits.

Elementos highlighted that the zinc production will not affect the main tin concentrate production at Oropesa.

“Whilst tin remains the primary mineral of interest at Oropesa it is now confirmed that zinc will also be in consideration as a by-product stream for the company, delivering a more financially robust project with stronger environmental and mining benefits,” Elementos managing director Joe David said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“As a majority of this zinc mineralisation is already planned to be mined and processed with our tin, we are pleased the metallurgical test work has shown that a relatively small additional circuit can recover zinc efficiently from a stream that would have otherwise ended up in the tailings dam as waste.

“This will not only lower the metal content in our tailings dam but make more efficient use of the ore body we plan on mining, which demonstrates our commitment to responsible mining practices.

“We will continue to evaluate the economics of the zinc by-product stream and consider it for inclusion in the Basis of Design of our DFS for the Oropesa project.

“The data to date makes a strong case that the incremental capital and operating costs associated with producing a zinc concentrate are likely to be relatively minor compared to overall project development costs, creating a strong economic basis for further assessment.”

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE