The company said that Gerold previously ran a 200 tons per day mine at Skroska, a fully permitted mining operation covered by a 20-year mining license, which was issued in 2008.

European Electric Metals (TSXV:EVX) has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of Gerold, an arm’s length party, which holds the Skroska iron-nickel mine in Albania.

The company said that Gerold previously ran a 200 tons per day mine at Skroska, a fully permitted mining operation covered by a 20-year mining license, which was issued in 2008. Gerold conducted mining operations on Skroska from 2008–2013 using an open stope method. The operation previously focused on nickel production and the mine was put on care and maintenance in 2013 due to low nickel prices. EVX’s geological team believed there was potential for high-grade cobalt in this geological setting and during sampling realized this potential.

As quoted in the press release:

EVX geologists investigated the possibility of higher-grade cobalt zones at Skroska, believing there may be similarities between mineralogy of Skroska laterite deposit and the Geovic’s Cameroon laterite deposit. During sampling at the Skroska the EVX geological team took 18 laterite samples collected from 10 different underground locations. The assays ranged from 0.05 percent to 0.54 percent cobalt and from 0.36 percent to 1.92 percent nickel. Ten of these samples assayed 0.15 percent cobalt and above and are shown in the table below. The presence of this cobalt-rich laterite had not been previously recognized at Skroska.

Click here to read the full European Electric Metals (TSXV:EVX) press release.