Eloro Resources (ELO) - $25M Targeting Large Scale Bolivian Silver

Eloro is an exploration and mine development company with a portfolio of gold and base-metal properties in Bolivia, Peru and Quebec. Eloro has an option to acquire a 99% interest in the highly prospective Iska Iska Property, classified as a silver-tin polymetallic epithermal-porphyry complex, a significant mineral deposit type in the Potosi Department, in southern Bolivia. Iska Iska is a road accessible, royalty-free property, wholly-controlled by the Title Holder, Empresa Minera Villegas S.R.L. and is located 48km north of Tupiza city, in the Sud Chichas Province of the Department of Potosi. This is an important mineral deposit type in the prolific South Mineral Belt of Bolivia. Eloro commissioned a NI 43-101 Technical Report on Iska Iska, which was completed by Micon International Limited and is available on Eloro’s website and under its filings on SEDAR.

We spent some time recently with Tom Larsen and Bill Pearson, CEO and Vice President, respectively, at Eloro Resources, a Canadian-based company with properties in South America and Quebec, Canada. We spoke about the recent news at their Iska Iska, Bolivia and La Victoria, Peru properties and where things are headed with the company.

Eloro Resources at a Glance

Eloro Resources is an exploration and mine development company with a portfolio of gold, silver and base metal properties in Bolivia, Peru and Quebec. Eloro has an option to acquire a 99% interest in the highly prospective Iska Iska property, a polymetallic (primarily silver and tin) epithermal-porphyry deposit, in southern Bolivia. They are currently engaged in detailed exploration on the property.

Additionally, Elora has an 82% interest in the La Victoria gold and silver project, in Peru and several prospective copper and gold assets in East-Central Quebec, Canada.

Eloro has nearly 40 M shares outstanding of which about 43% is owned by management or directors. The company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ELO.

Management Team

In addition to the CEO, the management team consists of Miles Nagamatsu, CFO; Jorge Estepa, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer; Bill Pearson, Vice President Exploration; Chris Holden, Vice President Corporate Development; Jimena Moran, Executive Assistant, Osvaldo Arce, General Manager Minas Tupiza; and Ana Moran, Manager ESG. A team of technical advisors and a corporate advisory board assists management.

The Iska Iska Project

Iska Iska is in the eastern Cordillera of Peru, home to numerous world-class polymetallic deposits. The company currently has a fully funded 50,000 m drill program, begun in 2020, and still underway at Iska Iska. So far, mineralization has been found in every penetration. Earlier in 2021, the company raised $25M for exploration purposes by issuing 6.67 M units.

As of the end of March 2021, 26 holes had been completed at the Huayra Kasa Mine area, and at their Santa Barbara Breccia Pipe (SBBP) and Central Breccia Pipe (CBP) targets, all of which are on the Iska Iska concession.  In addition to the drilling program, the company is conducting a detailed ground magnetic survey. Drill results so far have been carried out by Leduc drilling and have demonstrated a robust silver-tin system with very high metal concentrations.

Larsen continued about the drilling program by saying that they have three rigs operating: two surface rigs and an underground drilling operation. They had completed about 15,000 m of hole at the time of this interview. These drill holes are intercepting “Some pretty interesting long intervals of commercial material in many cases”, he told us.

Political and Business Situation in Peru

Before we got back to Iska Iska, we asked Larsen if he would give a short recap on the company’s Peruvian business. He replied that there was a recent national election there. The left-leaning Pedro Castillo was the winner. Overall, it was a close election and Larsen doubts if the country will have the political will to move on radical left-wing actions. He believes that it'll be business as usual, especially for the main mineral and mining operators. And indeed, he said, Iska Iska in Bolivia is actually Eloro’s main focus now. 

Eloro Finances

We are aware that you’ve recently raised some cash, we told Larsen. He responded that yes, things are going well in that department as well. The current registry is about 60% institutional, due in part also to private placements, he told us. They have recently picked up a couple of large accounts from London, England as well, he said. And, they have a nice percentage of retail support too, he indicated to us. 

The British support may be coming in because of the amount of tin that Eloro is seeing at Iska Iska, he told us. The UK community understands the dynamics of the tin market, and in particular how tight it is, he went on. There haven't been any major tin discoveries in quite some time and he thinks this may be the reason for such strong interest, he concluded. 

Introduction to Bill Pearson

In order to give us a more detailed geologic perspective at Iska Iska, Larsen introduced us to Bill Pearson. They have worked together on emerging plays in the 1990s in Colombia and Ecuador.  His 40 years of experience, doctorate in geology, and specific knowledge of epithermal systems brings a wealth of opportunity to Eloro. He’s operating for Eloro out of Toronto, and is working hand-in-glove with Dr. Osvaldo Arce, who is on the ground in Bolivia.

Pearson started off by telling us that in his view, Bolivia is one of the most stable countries in South America now. The current political structure is fostering foreign investment. So, in 2019, they came up with the Iska Iska project idea. 

Geologic Details at Iska Iska

We were really attracted to Iska Iska, said Pearson, when they had some rapid mineral analysis done on the rocks by a lab at the University of Chicago. When the results came back they were told that they have “One big system with some really high grades” at the occurrence. 

The other remarkable thing, he told us, was when they commenced drilling, they started right off with underground drilling. The third hole they drilled scored a breccia pipe, so they knew they were in business, he continued. Breccia pipes are generally not a single occurrence; they tend to come in clusters. Indeed, he said, soon enough another hole penetrated 180 m of beautifully mineralized breccia. Sure enough, more have been found, one of which, Santa Barbara, is about 400 m in diameter. The plan of attack, he said, was to perform a radial drilling program because of their geologic model for breccia pipe intrusions. 

They now believe that what is present at Iska Iska is a 15-million-year-old caldera complex complete with late-stage dacitic intrusions and widespread mineralization, with the breccia pipes representing feeder systems. It’s a huge complex, he continued, and the mineralization is not restricted to the breccia pipes alone. It was one heck of an explosion when this volcanic system blew its top back in the day to form the caldera, he said. 

The special magnetic survey that they have done, using a technique called “magnetic signal” really shows the breccia pipes nicely, he said. The outer ring of the caldera complex is clearly delineated also. Numerous other targets, such as Porco, Huayra Kasa, and Central have been identified by this survey. They are very pleased with the work that their team in the field did in mapping the anomalies out. Later on in 2021 they are going to conduct an induced polarization geophysical survey, which may indicate additional insight and targets, he said.

The Santa Barbara occurrence is mainly silver, lead, zinc and tin. It’s about 800 m by 500 m across. So far we’ve drilled down about 700 m. The Central deposit is silver, tin and some gold. Some of the mineralization encountered has been quite outstanding. For example one hole contains a 500 m long stretch of absolutely beautiful sulphide mineralization although they haven’t assayed it yet, he said. Another example at Santa Barbara produced numerous intercepts with up to 196 g of silver equivalent plus tin and gold. 

You may wonder why all of this hasn't been found before, given that the Spanish were all over the area in the past, he suggested. The reason that they were able to identify the big strikes at Iska Iska is that they started off with underground drilling. If they had begun with a conventional surface-drilling program, they would have been disappointed, he told us. Amazingly, they have not seen a single blank hole yet, which is remarkable considering the number of projects that he and the remainder of the team have worked on over the years. 

The Scale of the Opportunity

We queried Pearson about his perception of the scale of the Iska Iska find. He knows that it is a major occurrence, he said, because of his experience with polymetallic ore deposits. The Iska Iska deposit has no sections that have no grade, at least so far; it’s either high grade or lower than high grade. This is important, he continued, because as more holes are drilled in it, they will get a better definition of the higher-grade zones. That will lift the overall scope of the entire deposit, he said. 

Metallurgic Analyses

As we approached the end of the interview we asked about metal assays and when they would bring that type of work to bear.  Pearson responded that their goal is to get to NI 43-101 (a Canadian standard of disclosure for mineral projects) resource by late Fall 2021. They are already involved in some preliminary metallurgical testing that has yielded very encouraging results, he said. The metallurgical evaluations will likely continue on into 2022, he told us. If they can manage to confirm quality mineralization at the Porco target, then this thing can get to be a true giant, he offered.

Then, Pearson put Iska Iska into a regional context for us. The concession sits in the middle of an exceptional regional trend that has produced over 2.5 Bn ounces of silver. In addition, it is in the premier tin region of all of South America.

What’s fabulous about Iska Iska, he said, is that the whole of the volcanogenic edifice has been preserved, not as in most other areas where much has been eroded or faulted away. So the picture that we continue to develop from the company’s rapid pace of work is that Iska Iska just keeps getting bigger, he said. He indicated that he expects to see a big resource headline by late Fall, 2021.

Problems with Arsenic?

Larsen then spoke briefly about the potential for arsenic, in that there was mention of it in a report that had come out. No real problem, said the CEO. Because Iska Iska is a sulphide ore system, the concentration of arsenic tends to be low and that’s exactly what they see at Iska Iska, he said. In the few places that it’s higher, it is associated with gold. Higher concentrations of arsenic are very localized at the asset, he told us. When the analyses are completed, all will be revealed plainly in the resource report. 

Upcoming Mineral Resource Estimate

Because Iska Iska is a polymetallic deposit, the resource estimate will be a rather complex task, said Pearson.  In addition to having multiple ores, the deposit is not homogenous throughout, but instead is a non-isotropic deposit with potentially no real directional trends to the mineralization.  Separate resource models will be done for silver, tin, lead and zinc. We may see more gold when we drill deeper as well, he believes. Any deleterious metals, such as arsenic will be factored in, he said, and they will manage that narrative as needed. Eloro has involved the company Micon in the whole process early on to get things evaluated properly, said Pearson. Above all, he said, the upcoming estimate is going to show the status of what he believes is going to be a major resource.

To find out more, go to the Eloro Resources Website