A fantastic drill hole from its Alvalade project in Portugal has given Avrupa Minerals (AVU.V; AVPMF.OTC) a real shot at outlining the country’s next big copper mine.

In a world desperate for new deposits of the red metal, Avrupa’s follow-up drilling around this hole could add a lot of value to this sub-$4-million market cap company.

Dear Fellow Investor,

Call it a “Eureka” discovery, nine years later.

Avrupa Minerals (AVU.V; AVPMF.OTC) had drilled the Central zone of its Alvalade project’s Sesmarias target in Portugal before and hit paydirt.

In 2014, the company released a great discovery hole there (Hole 2), which hit 7.95 meters of 2.21% copper, 3.05% lead, 4.82% zinc and 89.9 g/t silver at 150 meters depth.

But then subsequent, near-surface drill holes failed to intersect further shallow mineralization.

Avrupa would move on to testing other areas on the project, including 8,900 meters with JV partner MATSA in 2020 and 2021 on the Sesmarias North zone.

Then, this past April, the JV partners decided to return to the Central zone to drill it at depth.

The results from that initial hole from that effort hit the market on Monday, and they were impressive, to say the least.

A Bonanza-Grade Intersection

At 393.8 meters downhole, Hole 47 cut 26.5 meters of 2.18% copper, 2.58% lead, 5.60% zinc and 88.2 g/t silver.

That’s a phenomenal hit, with solid lead and zinc grades and a copper grade fully twice the typical 1% copper that gets mined in the world.

It seems that the original discovery hole nine years ago had hit into a rich Volcanic Massive Sulphide (“VMS”) system, but a geologic fault off-set it at depth.

In short, Hole 47 appears to have found the extension of that VMS system.

And while the true width of Hole 47 isn’t known yet, the high-grade hit occurred within a wider interval of 43.4 meters grading 1.51% copper, 2.15% lead, 4.78% zinc and 64.1 g/t silver.

The Iberian Pyrite Belt’s Next Mine?

If those widths prove close to the true width at Sesmarias Central, step out drilling could end up defining a large deposit of copper, lead and zinc, with a nice silver by-product credit.

That would certainly be in keeping with the geology of the Iberian Pyrite Belt in which Alvalade lies.

The area is host to no less than 80 mines, many of which are underground, VMS-style deposits.

A good example is Lundin Mining’s Neves-Corvo mine. The mine consists of a copper plant and a zinc plant, and ore is transported by shaft and conveyor to the surface for processing.

Neves-Corvo is expected to generate 33,000-38,000 tonnes of copper and 100,000-110,000 tonnes of zinc in 2023.

Granted, Avrupa and MATSA have much more work to do to prove up a deposit of that size at Sesmarias, but the hit from Hole 47 is certainly a big step in the right direction.

Plenty Of Upside Left

There’s lots of room for Sesmarias Central to grow.

Management sees the potential for high-grade mineralization to extend from the 650S section, where Hole 47 was drilled, to the 350S section north of present drilling.

It could also extend for another 300 to 400 meters to the south of the 650S section.

If the upcoming drill holes to test this possible extension bear fruit, it could cause a re-rating in Avrupa’s share price.

Drills Are Turning At This Moment

The partners are already testing for that possibility with Hole 48, which is collared 150 meters southeast of Hole 47 on the 800S section.

More drill holes are planned for the area, but this initial, post-discovery hole will be one to watch closely, along with potentially five more holes being drilled this summer.

In spite of recent price declines in copper, the fact remains that the industry has underinvested in developing new mines. With the greatest demand surge in history running smack-dab into supply constraints, the outlook for copper prices is perhaps the best ever seen.

To say that potential high-grade deposits like the one at Sesmarias, if the scale is there, would be in demand from the world’s biggest miners would be an understatement.

Avrupa’s tight share structure ensures that any significant pieces of news on this project could result in a significant share-price adjustment to the positive.

If you want to speculate on the results from Hole 48, which could break Sesmarias Central wide open as an important new copper-zinc-lead resource, now is the time to do so.

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