Venus Minerals’ most recent appraisal drilling in Kokkinoyia revealed that the project’s tonnage is three times higher than expected.
According to the company’s updated Mineral Resource Estimate for Kokkinoyia, the project’s estimated overall tonnage has increased by 240% compared to historical assay data, while the resource classification of some zones of mineralisation has been upgraded from Inferred to Indicated.
In particular, gold mineralisation occurs across several distinct zones, along with zinc and silver in places.
The most recent drilling programme has confirmed a tonnage of 12.3 Mt with notable copper values ranging from 0.31 to 2.25% Cu and gold values ranging from 0.27 to 0.57 g/t Au, across multiple zones of mineralisation at Kokkinoyia.
Furthermore, the company identified a new Exploration Target for gold for a tonnage of 3-4Mt at a grade of 0.3-0.4 g/t Au, producing an additional 30,000 to 70,000 oz of gold.
The company’s 2021 drilling programme in the area confirmed a significant gold component in Kokkinoyia, in addition to zinc and copper, with the deposit being identified as a copper-gold-zinc mineral system.
Moreover, Venus Minerals has discovered three new zones with copper and gold mineralisation.
Venus Minerals’ Managing Director, Peter van der Borgh, said: “This is an exceptional result. The new Mineral Resource Estimate further reinforces our confidence in the deposit and its future exploration and resource drilling prospects.
“As we had predicted, the Kokkinoyia deposit contains a substantial amount of gold, in association with copper and zinc.
“We strongly believe that the development of Cyprus’ previously untapped mineral resources will bring numerous benefits to the local economy.
“Our company is looking forward to a continuous dialogue and establishing partnerships with the local communities, leading to mutual benefit.”
Further work on Kokkinoyia East is planned and scheduled in the next phase of drilling at the project.
Venus Minerals is a Cyprus-based exploration company, which been actively exploring copper-gold assets in Cyprus for over 15 years.
It is currently operating projects across the country, including Magellan, Mariner and Apliki. The company uses state-of-the-art, low-impact exploration methods, while it plans to introduce modern mining and mineral-processing to minimise impact and maximise efficiency.