Variscan (ASX:VAR) extends high-grade discovery at San Jose

• Variscan (VAR) intersects further high-grade mineralisation during underground drilling at the San Jose Mine in Spain
• Assay results from the mine’s Central Zone extend the discovery of mineralised lenses by more than 400 metres south of the La Caseta trend
• Drilling also confirms high-grade mineralisation along the mine’s Los Caracoles trend
• Shares in Variscan are down roughly 4.2 per cent to 11.5 cents at 12:03 pm AEST

Variscan (VAR) has intersected further high-grade mineralisation during underground drilling at the San Jose Mine in Spain.

Specifically, assay results returned from the mine’s Central Zone have extended the company’s recent discovery of mineralised lenses by more than 400 metres south of the La Caseta trend.

Significant intercepts included 23 metres at 11.5 per cent zinc and 3.7 per cent lead, as well as 18 metres at 9.9 per cent zinc and 3.2 per cent lead.

According to VAR, the results indicate the potential for further extensions and warrant further infill drilling below the trend’s open gallery level.

Drilling has also confirmed high-grade mineralisation along the mine’s Los Caracoles trend, with best results including nine metres at 8.4 per cent zinc and 2.1 per cent lead.

Like La Caseta, Los Caracoles remains open below gallery level with further drilling pegged to test for lower lenses.

Variscan Managing Director and CEO Stewart Dickson said he was pleased to see further “excellent” results added to the mine’s newly-discovered high-grade mineralised lenses.

“We will be following up these exciting drill results with further assays from drilling over the South West Zone, which is where mine activity ceased in the late 1990s, when zinc prices were approximately four times lower than today,” he said.

“We are optimistic that further drilling may yield promising results and, if replicated, could provide considerable scale and tonnage potential.

“With significant infrastructure in place the Novales-Udias Project, centred on the San Jose mine, has all the constituent elements to advance quickly and seriously consider re-start mining opportunities in due course.”

VAR has now completed the more than 2000-metre drilling campaign at the Central Zone, with assay results for core samples taken from a further 30 drill holes still pending.

The company is refining follow up campaigns, which it expects to re-start shortly.

Further activities

Meanwhile, Variscan maintains an immediate focus on several key activities, including the receipt and interpretation of assay results from San Jose’s South West Zone.

Elsewhere, VAR is planning mapping and sampling of surface drill targets over the Buenahora license area at the Novales-Udias Project and Guajaraz Project.

Shares in Variscan were trading 4.2 per cent lower at 11.5 cents each at 12:03 pm AEST.