Europa Metals Ltd (LON:EUZ) shares rose on Thursday as the lead-zinc and silver developer said it has successfully renewed the investigation permit for its Toral project in Spain.
The AIM-listed firm said the permit has been renewed following a consultation process by regional authorities for a further three years until November 15, 2023, and that over the period it will prioritise the completion of all necessary tasks to enable an application to be made for a mining licence for Toral.
READ: Europa Metals secures sizeable grant from Spanish government
Europa said it also expects to shortly be able to announce the findings of Bara Consulting’s independent report containing updated economics for the Toral Project and an outline of the key parameters for a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), certain elements of which are already underway.
The company added that its operations team are finalising plans for a combined resource and metallurgical drilling programme, which will enable the draw-down of the initial €163,380 tranche of the CDTI grant, and that it is also progressing its hydrogeological programme and its geotechnical and environmental & waste management workstreams.
Europa also said at this time all work streams remain on schedule despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“The renewal of our Investigation Permit for Toral for a further three year period follows the successful completion of the designated application process, and serves to demonstrate the supportive and cooperative development environment for appropriate metals projects within the Castilla y León region in Spain. With the Investigation Permit secured until late 2023, we shall now progress the further definition of the intrinsic value of Toral as a high grade, robust lead, zinc and silver project”, Europa chief executive Laurence Read said in a statement.
“It is anticipated that the independent updated economic study shall be concluded shortly, bringing together all the significant work completed at the project since 2018 and providing a detailed outline of a mine development model and related economics. On the ground, we shall now look to finalise our plans for our next drill campaign in order to commence this important element of the PFS work programme.
“As work progresses at Toral over the next three years, Europa Metals will seek to make an application for a full mining licence for the project, at the appropriate time, in accordance with the laws governing non-energy, sustainable metals projects, in order to move the Toral Project towards being permitted for a potential future full development phase”, the CEO added.
Europa shares rose 1.6% to 10.7p in late-morning trading.
