This Company is Expanding its Portfolio into Finland – Here’s Why

The beginning of a new year often signals new opportunities for junior mining companies, and the story is no different for companies like Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (AVU) (TSX-V.AVU, OTCMKTS: AVPMF, Forum).

The Vancouver, BC-based company is a junior exploration and development company with a focus on Europe’s historical mineral belts including the Iberian Pyrite Belt in Portugal and the Vardar Trend in Kosovo. Avrupa has been able to make recent discoveries as it continues to generate prospects and grow its portfolio.

Within Portugal, the company has conducted self-funded generative exploration work and has previously used funds provided by Callinan Royalties, as well, for prospect generation work in the Pyrite Belt and the Ossa Morena Zone.

In line with this, Avrupa Minerals also has a “Hybrid Opportunity Generator” construct, which intends to generate shareholder value by building a large portfolio of projects for joint ventures or for selling to larger mining companies.

Putting it simply, the phrase Hybrid Opportunity Generator is generally used to define junior mining companies which employ a business model in order to de-risk exploration.

Leading the company as president and CEO is Paul Kuhn, who has over 40 years of experience in mineral exploration across North America, Central Asia and Europe. He has also managed exploration programs in the US, Portugal, Kosovo and Turkey.

Stockhouse Editorial recently had the opportunity to catch up with Kuhn on all of the company’s latest developments and what investors should know about Avrupa moving forward.

SH: It’s still early in the year, but to start off with, can you provide our investor audience with an update on some recent company developments?

PK: Just at the end of 2021 we announced a move to enter the green/brownfields exploration business in Finland. We are in the process of purchasing a small private company that holds four mineral reservations in central Finland. Three of the reservations target copper-zinc massive sulfide mineralization in the Vihanti-Pyhasälmi VMS District, and the fourth targets potential gold mineralization in the Oijärvi Greenstone Belt in north central Finland. Both areas host active exploration programs by other companies.

We continue to drill at the Sesmarias North massive sulfide target, located within the Alvalade Joint Venture area, along with our Spanish partner, miner MATSA. The project is fully funded by MATSA. We have drilled 16 holes and 8,150 meters, to date, at Sesmarias North and are working on the 17th now. Within the total strike length of presently-known mineralization at the Sesmarias prospect, more than 1,700 meters, we have shown that Sesmarias North is a robust massive sulfide system with a length of at least 350 meters, open to both the north and south (towards the Ses Central zone), and to some further depth.

SH: With the company’s presence in Portugal and Kosovo, the company has now made some acquisitions in Finland - what drew the company’s interest there?

PK: Avrupa has been looking for a way to revitalize their project generation pipeline outside of the Pyrite Belt, with the Company reviewing gold and copper project submittals around Europe, looking at possibilities in Scandinavia, the Balkans, and Turkey. The availability of the Finnish projects became evident through conversations with a senior European explorationist with long and successful project experience in Finland and in the Pyrite Belt, amongst other places. The geologist, Jan Akkerman, is well-versed in massive sulfide exploration in both jurisdictions, and we saw a mutual interest in further exploration in two active areas in Finland where Mr. Akkerman held mineral exploration reservations. Mr. Akkerman’s Finnish company, along with his in-country experience, will be a great way for Avrupa to commence exploration in Finland.

SH: Now that the acquisitions of the properties have been closed, what will be the first steps the company will take in Finland?

PK: We are in the process of closing the acquisition, working on the finalization of the agreement, and will raise the necessary funds to move the programs forward during 2022. We have already begun the first steps by reviewing the in-hand data for the Kolima Reservation to winnow out the best of the target areas to make the necessary exploration license application. The next steps will be to review data and core from historic drilling on the three other licenses and eventually review in the field. We have a field season to review the other reservations and associated data before the final date for license application on these three. In the meantime, we will also follow the Kolima licensing process through all the points of Finnish mining regulations. In the end, we anticipate the issuance of four exciting exploration licenses covering drillable base and precious metal targets in coming 12-15 months.

SH: How will these acquisitions fit into the company’s portfolio moving forward?

PK: The acquisitions are all early-stage green to brownfields exploration projects. This will be the start of refreshing our project pipeline, something we have not been able to do for the past few years. We expect to advance them using basic exploration tools, including soil geochemistry, drone- and ground-based geophysical surveys, and core re-logging during the licensing process to the point where they should be drillable when the licenses are issued. Via our project generator business model, we will be able to decide how to further advance the projects, either ourselves or with investing joint venture partners.

SH: The company recently released results from its Sesmarias North, Alvalade Project in Portugal, what are some of the key takeaways investors should know about?

PK: The Sesmarias copper-zinc massive sulfide system is a robust target. We have thick intercepts of semi- to massive sulfide mineralization over a strike length of more than 1,700 meters. We have concentrated in the North sector because of a lack of previous work there and because of an existing land issue that has now been solved in the Central (Discovery) zone. We plan to continue work in the North sector and also initiate delineation work in the Central sector. Sesmarias North is open along strike in both directions, and has not yet been defined for depth projections. And we seem to be trending towards better grades as we move southward. There is still a lot to do at Sesmarias.

SH: What will be the company’s next steps at this project?

PK: There is so much to choose from around the Alvalade Project. Obviously more work in the Sesmarias District is the first order. But we have drill targets in other districts along the trend of Pyrite Belt host rocks, including in the Caveira Mine area, Monte da Bela Vista discovery area, and around the old Lousal Mine. There are more early-stage target areas defined by the airborne VTEM survey we completed in early 2021, and we have not even looked at the Pyrite Belt trend south of the Sesmarias District since 2013-14. For now, we need to wait for some guidance from Sandfire Resources, the new owner of our partner MATSA, as to how we will proceed.

SH: Will the company be looking to add any new partnerships to its portfolio in 2022?

PK: This year will be one of building up our project pipeline and upgrading targets, particularly in the new Finnish acquisitions. We are hoping to re-acquire our Slivovo Gold Project in Kosovo, but that is a back-burner thing for now, until the mining bureau over there can get to reviewing our new license application. This has been a long wait, and more or less out of our control, so no expectations at the moment.

SH: And finally, what catalysts does the company have in the pipeline this year that our audience should be watching for?

PK: Positive early exploration results from the new acquisitions in Finland will be an important catalyst for the Company. Continued strong results on the Alvalade Project will be important. Getting our gold back in Kosovo will be a great thing for the Company, too.

SH: The company recently announced a $1 million private placement — can you discuss what the funds will be used for and how it will help position the company moving forward?

PK: The largest part of the funds will go to the purchase of the Finnish projects and to the first year of exploration work on these projects. We’d like to follow on a number of generative ideas in Portugal and possibly even Kosovo, and we’d like to be able to review a number of submittals around Europe. Obviously, getting the exploration pipeline back into operation gives us the opportunity for more discoveries and potentially for more great news for our shareholders.

SH: How significant is it for a company like Avrupa Minerals to be able to notch this kind of private placement?

PK: Right now, it is still a difficult environment for junior explorers. Our share price shows that, even with exciting news in both Portugal and Finland. To be able to complete this PP in fast order is a real tribute to the work of Avrupa’s Chairman, Mark Brown. It looks like a great start for 2022.

SH Is there anything else you’d like to touch base on?

PK: I think we’ve covered all the important points. We will have a busy year upgrading the projects in Finland, with the possibility of drill targets ready to go by the end of Year One of the program. And when the new owner of our partner in Portugal decides how to move forward, we anticipate more drilling going on at Alvalade.


FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.