As the restrictions to battle the coronavirus pandemic adapt to a point where the world can “restart”, markets begin to move rapidly in tandem – and the corresponding news mill is backlogged. Major opportunities get buried in a sea of big player moves that represent amounts in the billions of dollars – but they’re not the only ones getting back into the trenches.
For example, the global metals market is starting to get pulled back into form at the hand of the electric vehicle industry. Recent favorable regulations passed in Europe and China, as well as production curtailments and future investments, are fueling the consensus of that the market is close to bottoming out.
After news like this, we can expect to see some action around the sector’s players, such as Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK), Glencore plc (LSE: GLEN.L) or Nyrstar NV (OTC: NYRSY). However, one must recognize that the early post-lockdown world represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for investors. The current global landscape is unquestionably unique, and represents the perfect landscape to scout out opportunities that may fly under the radar as the entire global economy, and society, get kick-started back up simultaneously – flooding the wavelengths with only the biggest, most sensational headlines.
One such occurrence is that of Canadian natural resource company Emerita Resources and the favorable ruling received on the high-grade Paymogo/La Romanera Project’s Public Tender in Spain’s Huelva province. Why does this matter? Keep reading.
The rundown
Toronto-based miner Emerita Resources (CSE: EMO.V) aims to be the next dominant zinc explorer and developer. The company is headquartered in Canada and has additional offices in Sevilla, Spain and Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Its flagship projects are in Spain – the Aznalcollar Deposit and the Paymogo Project.
Emerita boasts a management team loaded with experience. Its members were part of successful mineral deposit discoveries and subsequent project developments in North and South America, Africa and Australia for decades.
An experienced team in a tenured company – Emerita been on the market for 10 years. These factors, in conjunction with the Paymogo news, represent the makings of a perfect storm that could bring about an explosive and sudden rise in the CSE.
The Paymogo Project was the subject of a five-year-long legal battle between Emerita, the Junta de Andalusia and Matsa. Matsa won the original tender, but the judging criteria used by the Junta to award the victory wasn’t consistent with the published guidelines. Emerita was determined to make things right – in the shortest time possible.
And a property like this one merits the effort: The Paymogo / La Romanera project occurs within the renowned Iberian Pyrite Belt – one of the most highly mineralized volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) terranes in the world. It extends along a strike length of approximately 18 km.
The area has excellent accessibility via paved and all-weather gravel roads.
Within the Project area, several base metal occurrences have been identified by previous exploration, the most significant of which are the Romanera and the La Infanta base metal deposits. The deposits occur at surface, have high grade mineralization, and remain open for expansion by further drilling.
Logistics aside – the proof is in the pudding: as per drilling conducted by Minera Rio Tinto in the 90s, La Romanera is is reported to host 34 million tonnes grading 0.42% copper, 2.20% lead, 2.3% zinc 44.4g/t silver and 0.8 g/t gold within which there is a higher grade resource of 11.21 million tonnes grading 0.40% copper, 2.47% lead, 5.50% zinc, 64.0 g/t silver and 1.0 g/t gold
Emerita fought for a fair procedure for the past 5 years – and their persistence paid off. With the Supreme Court’s favorable verdict, the company’s legal odyssey comes to an end, and the time to gear up for drilling begins.
About the Spanish court’s verdict, Emerita President Joaquin Merino stated: “we will begin immediately to initiate our technical program and acquire permits required to commence work on the site. We are committed to commencing drilling of the project as soon as practically possible. The Company will employ best practices with respect to protecting the health and safety of our employees and the communities in which we work and is developing the necessary safety protocols to commence work in a safe manner.”
The ruling represents a major win for the company, and one that’s long overdue – the verdict was reached in November 2019, but all legal procedures got shelved back in March of this year. As soon as it was possible, the EMO legal team pushed for resolution of the issue and the result is finally at hand.
Emerita CEO David Gower also gave his thoughts on the long-awaited event: “We are very excited to have been the successful bidder for Paymogo / La Romanera project. We look forward to initiating the work program as soon as possible. We greatly appreciate that the officials within the government completed the resolution in a timely manner in the face of the major disruption and tragedy caused by the pandemic.”
Opportunity within grasp
At the time of this publication, Emerita’s stock sits at CA$ 0.25 – a potential bargain play for investors who are interested in backing a company that may have had its true value affected by long-running issues. One could realistically expect that, once markets catch wind of the latest developments, a strong positive correction takes place.
About Emerita Resources
Emerita Resources (CSE: EMO.V) is a Canadian natural resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties with a primary focus on exploring in Spain. The Company, along with its JV partner, Grupo Aldesa (Aldesa), holds a 50% interest in the Plaza Norte Project located in the famous Reocín mining district in North Spain.
Management has spent decades with major mining companies globally and has a successful track record that includes numerous mineral deposit discoveries and subsequent project developments in North and South America, Africa and Australia. The Company’s corporate office and technical team are based in Sevilla, Spain and Belo Horizonte, Brazil with an administrative office in Toronto, Canada.
