Avrupa Minerals is pleased to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Beak Consultants of Freiberg, Germany to explore for gold deposits in the Erzgebirge mining district, near Oelsnitz in the free state of Saxony in eastern Germany.
The Erzgebirge (ore mountains) region is a historic mining district with known production of silver, base metals, and tin since at least the 1100s during Saxon times. However, by the early 20th century most of the mines had been closed, although sporadic mining occurred during the world wars. After the Second World War, uranium and tin were mined extensively until the re-unification of East and West Germany.
Although there was no significant historical production of gold in the Erzgebirge, there are reports of several placer gold operations in the Middle Ages. During the 1970s and 1980s, numerous sites of alluvial gold located within the license area were recorded by a regional gold panning and exploration program. In particular, the location of panning sites strongly correlates with historical stream sediment anomalies of a suite of path-finder elements often associated with intrusion-related gold deposits similar to those found in the Tintina Gold Province of the Yukon and Alaska.
Avrupa must spend €140,000 for exploration purposes to gain 85% of Oelsnitz Exploration License, which was issued to Beak on January 12, 2012. The license covers 307.2km² and has been issued for gold, silver, tin, tungsten, molybdenum, copper, lead, zinc, tellurium, barite, and fluorite. Once Avrupa has earned into the project, the two companies will form a joint venture to explore for gold on the property. Avrupa will look for potential partners to further extend the exploration program from the prospect generation phase.
Paul Kuhn, CEO of Avrupa Minerals, stated that the Company was excited to start a new venture in a new European jurisdiction. He said: "We are eager to be moving into the Erzgebirge District and to be working with Beak Consultants, who are well-known and respected in the exploration business and in the Saxony region.
"There is strong potential for mineralization in the Erzgebirge, as well as positive mining and permitting regulations, interest in new business possibilities from regional and local governments, good infrastructure, and an able and available workforce. The merits of the Erzgebirge have already been exhibited by a long line of applicants for new exploration licenses in the historic mining area."
Beak Consultants offers a wide range of consulting services to both public and private clients involved in the natural resource and environmental sectors, information management, and communication technology. Their client base and experience covers countries on nearly all the continents.
Beak created the most extensive GIS exploration database for the Erzgebirge, which was instrumental in establishing the mineralization target model and the outline for the joint application to the mining authorities in the state of Saxony.The company is based in Freiberg, Germany, a traditional mining site, hosting the famous Freiberg Mining University, and being one of the important historical mining centers of the Erzgebirge region.
Avrupa Minerals is a growth-oriented junior exploration and development company focused on aggressive exploration, using a prospect generator model, for valuable mineral deposits in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, including Portugal, Kosovo, and Germany.
Avrupa has an exciting portfolio of exploration projects consisting of:
- Copper and Zinc in Portugal at Marateca and in the Alvalade JV project area located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, where Europe’s richest active copper mine is located
- Tungsten and Gold in Portugal at the Covas JV project area
- Precious metal and REE potential in the new Aljezur project area, south Portugal
- Silver, Lead and Zinc in Kosovo at the Glavej, Kamenica, Selac, and Bajgora properties in the Trepça Mineral Belt of the Vardar Zone, historically, Europe’s most productive district for lead and zinc
- Gold in the historic Erzgebirge Mining District of Germany