Moving ahead with the next phase of its appraisal of the Magellan Project, Venus Minerals has commenced diamond drilling in the Troodos mountain range, exploring gold and silver-rich copper deposits.
The drilling builds on the company’s recent findings, which showed that the sectors comprising the Magellan Project, Kokkinoyia, Klirou and New Sha, are estimated to have a combined resource inventory of 9.5 million tons at 0.65% of copper with the additional value from gold, silver, and zinc.
“The drilling programme is expected to confirm the abundance and distribution of gold and silver, which can significantly improve the economics of the deposit,” said Venus Minerals.
Drilling is focused on a small historical open pit with eight holes planned at Kokkinoyia, spanning 1,260 metres, to further test the known mineralisation and provide material for metallurgical test work.
The drilling is also targeting extensions of mineralisation previously encountered in historical underground workings.
Over the next few months, the company hopes to explore the remaining areas, moving its rig to the Klirou and New Sha sectors.
“Throughout this process, Venus Minerals has introduced innovative technologies and practices, many of which are being applied in Cyprus for the very first time.”
The mining firm uses “state-of-the-art, low-impact exploration methods”.
It plans to introduce modern mining and mineral processing methods engineered to minimise impact and maximise efficiency and hired three recently qualified local geologists to its technical team.
Venus Minerals’ Managing Director, exploration geologist Peter van der Borgh, said: “It is very exciting to move on to the next phase, after three years of hard work by our team, and we look forward to seeing what’s next.
“We are very optimistic, given that this project builds upon the earlier percussion drilling programme, which produced promising results”.
He said the Magellan Project “could break new ground for Cyprus…it can demonstrate the island’s capacity to produce new substantial copper deposits.”
“The country could be able to reap the benefits of increased demand for the red metal, due to the global shift towards a greener economy”.
Van der Borgh said sustainable development of the island’s mining industry could create new employment and training opportunities, transferable skills and infrastructure while bringing in additional tax revenue for the state.
Venus Minerals, a Cyprus-based exploration company, has managed to build a comprehensive geoscience database across the island, representing more than €100 mln of activity at today’s prices.
It has a portfolio of projects in the north Troodos region, the two main ones being the Magellan Project and the Mariner Project, which is located near Troulli.
