24 August 2018 – Bromborough (UK): NewEra Metal Resources Ltd (the “Company” or “NewEra”) announces further expansion of its prospective Mercedes project in Argentina through the application of one (1) cateo (exploration concession) covering an area of 2,300 ha.
Bitumen hosts the historically reported vanadium mineralisation. Bitumen mining in the Malargue region commenced in 1887 when a small prospect was exploited at Mina Anita (the Mercedes project) and activity peaked in the 1940s when wartime embargo’s cut off the supply of British coal to Argentina. Vanadium has never been exploited in this region before.
The bitumen veins at Mercedes are hosted in clay and marl sediments of the Mendoza Group which are folded into an anticlinal structure. Two veins are reported from a limited exploration and exploitation program in the 1940s, and the principal vein has a maximum thickness of 4.5 m at the fold hinge. The vein is flat-lying and occurs as a saddle-reef type structure.
The Mercedes project now covers a total area of 8,200 ha.