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Blackheath Resources announced today that a phase 3 drill program has commenced at its Covas tungsten project in Portugal. The program is aimed at further expanding known zones of tungsten mineralization at the property.
Focused on the development of tungsten projects in Portugal, Blackheath holds an option from prospect generator Avrupa Minerals (TSXV:AVU) to earn up to an 85-percent interest in a joint venture in Covas. The project, which is operated by Avrupa, is a past-producing mine with a historic resource of 922,900 tonnes of 0.78-percent WO3.
Goals for the program
According to a press release from Blackheath, the phase 3 program will feature as many as 15 shallow diamond drill holes for a total of approximately 1,100 meters. Those holes have been “designed to expand the known zones of tungsten mineralization on the property.”
Tungsten Investing News spoke with Blackheath’s president, Alex Langer, who explained that while the first two programs at the property were “more exploration based,” the current program is “going to be smaller step outs from the known historic resource.” In other words, drilling at Corvas is honing in on promising portions of the property.
Langer reiterated that the resource is currently “not NI 43-101 [compliant].” However, the company has plans to get to that stage. “Our goal is to start to combine some of these areas and bring them closer together into something that may be useable in a NI 43-101 in the future,” he said.
Avrupa is also happy about the start of the program. Echoing Langer’s sentiment, Avrupa President and CEO Paul W. Kuhn stated, “[i]t is exciting to get the third phase drilling campaign started, as we will be keying in on known high grade WO3 areas around the Covas prospect. The JV has put a lot of energy into upgrading the targets this year, with a strong surface exploration effort, and we are looking forward to positive results from Lapa Grande, Castelo, and Telheira, in particular.”
The first portion of the drill program will focus on the eastern part of Covas, namely the Lapa Grande, Muito Seco, Castelo and Boundary targets, with the aim of better defining potentially high WO3 mineralization in those areas and possibly connecting them.
The second part of the program will be directed at the Telheira target and other targets within the western portion of Covas. Blackheath notes that a significant amount of fieldwork was completed already this year, and the company expects to drill up to five more holes for an additional 200 to 400 meters.
Plenty of activity
What’s more, that isn’t all Blackheath is up to. Langer stated, “right now we’re actually drilling two of our projects, which is quite exciting.” Specifically, the company is also currently drilling at its Borralha project having announced the first drill program for that property roughly two and a half months ago.
Given all of that action, interested investors will want to keep an eye out for what Blackheath does next. In terms of what can be expected, Langer said, “we should have lots of results coming forward through the rest of the year.”
At close of day on Tuesday, shares of Blackheath were up 8 percent, trading at $0.27.
Securities Disclosure: I, Teresa Matich hold no investment interest in any of the companies mentioned.
Editorial Disclosure: Blackheath Resources and Avrupa Minerals are clients of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.