We’ve hit paydirt in Bosnia, says ASX-listed Adriatic Metals
London | ASX-listed junior miner Adriatic Metals has almost doubled its estimate for the size of its silver-zinc-lead-gold mine in Bosnia-Herzegovina, claiming that this catapults the mine into the global top tier.
The mine began extracting ore last week, and Adriatic Metals chief executive Paul Cronin expects to be shipping concentrate, and turning the company’s first profit, by the end of the year. That would make the Vares project one of the first new mines in Europe for decades – prompting the company to start scouring the Balkans for other opportunities.
Adriatic Metals has completed 84 per cent of the work on its mine in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“What we’ve demonstrated is that you can build a mine in Europe, where the macroeconomic circumstances impose additional challenges,” the Australian-born Mr Cronin told The Australian Financial Review from his base in Sarajevo. “We’re well and truly on our way: we’ve done all the hard work, like the restoration of the railway line, and we’re about to sign the contract with the port. We’re in good shape with the budget, we’ve ridden the inflationary firestorm quite successfully.”
In a statement to the ASX on Thursday, Adriatic Metals – which is also listed on the London Stock Exchange – said its new indicated and inferred mineral resources estimate was 93 per cent higher than a previous 2020 estimate.
“We’ve not only virtually doubled it in terms of resources, but we’ve also increased the grade,” Mr Cronin said.
“To put it into a gold context, for example – most people use gold-equivalent as a way of ranking things – it’s now over 4 million ounces. That puts it up in the top decile of mines around the world, at a very low cost.”
Adriatic Metals began extracting ore last week,
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