Introduction to Oropesa
2. The climate is Mediterranean with dry hot summers and cool wet winters. Rainfall can be very erratically distributed during the winter months.
3. Oropesa is located less than 3kms from a tarred road and approximately 10kms from abundant water and electrical power resources.
4. Oropesa is located on the western end of the highly productive Peñarroya coal mining district. As a consequence, page there are skilled miners locally available and there is a pervasive pro-mining attitude in the local community.
History of Oropesa
1. Oropesa was discovered in the early 1980s by IGME (El Instituto Geolologico y Minero de España), the equivalent of the Spanish Geological Survey.
2. The Oropesa deposit’s discovery is believed to be the result of a few multi-element assays undertaken on a small manganese deposit on the property.
3. IGME undertook a major soil geochemistry and aerial geophysics program before embarking on a 32 drill hole program (27 for exploration and 5 for metallurgical purpose).
4. Work on the project ceased in the late 1980s due to a combination of government budget cutbacks and the 1985 collapse in the tin price, caused by the bankruptcy of the International Tin Council.
5. On January 31, 2008, a 23.4km2 exploration licence for the Oropesa tin deposit was granted to SPIB (Sondeos y Perforaciones Industriales del Bierzo SA). Shortly afterwards, the property was optioned from SPIB by a private company MESPA (Minas de Estaño de España SA), now a wholly owned subsidiary of Eurotin Inc.
6. MESPA will have completed the earn in conditions once it has completed a Scoping Study, which is currently underway. Once completed, MESPA will own 100% of the Oropesa licence and equity ownership of MESPA will be split 96% for Eurotin and 4% for SPIB. In addition, SPIB will have a NSR of 1.35%.
7. Drilling at Oropesa recommenced in August 2010. Since that time, MESPA has drilled 246 core holes for a total distance of 51,246 metres:
Oropesa 2010-2012: 209 holes – 45,062 metres
Oropesa 2013: 20 holes – 3,759 metres
La Grana 2010: 17 holes – 2,726 metres
8. Using a cutoff grade of 0.25% tin, and omitting those holes which were drilled ‘down structure’, there have been 262 mineralized intercepts with an average thickness of 8.6 metres and a grade of 0.64% Sn. Almost all of the intercepts are at open pittable depths and have a true width factor of 85-100%.
9. In November 2012, Eurotin released the first resource statement for Oropesa. A new resource will be undertaken in early 2014, using the intercepts from an additional 36 drill holes and a re-interpretation of the deposit’s structural geology.