29 October 2026 Perth, WA
Altoro Metals Limited (ASX) has commenced a major surface diamond drilling program at its flagship Novales Zinc Project in Cantabria, northern Spain, targeting mineralisation across a more than 12km corridor as the Company works towards a unified Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) upgrade in the first quarter of 2027.
The fully permitted, 20-hole drilling campaign is designed to establish geological and mineralised continuity between the historical mining centres of San José, Margarita, Emilia and Udías, supporting Altoro's objective of consolidating these areas into a single, integrated Novales Project.
Drilling commenced on 20 October 2026 following the mobilisation of a drill rig from the Company's Guajaraz Zinc-Lead-Silver Project in Toledo Province, where its maiden five-hole diamond drilling program has now been completed.
The operational update also comes as Altoro continues underground drilling at Emilia, with laboratory assays pending for the first nine underground diamond drillholes.
Together, the programs represent key components of Altoro's strategy to expand its understanding of the district-scale zinc system and generate additional geological data for the planned Q1 2027 resource upgrade.
Surface drilling targets district-scale zinc continuity at Novales
Altoro's initial 20-hole surface diamond drilling campaign will target the prospective corridor between the central Novales workings, Margarita and Emilia, with the objective of establishing connectivity between historical mineralised zones.
The Company's existing JORC Mineral Resource Estimate of 3.38 million tonnes at 7.61% zinc and 0.88% lead, for a combined grade of 8.49% zinc and lead, is currently confined to the San José and north-eastern Udías sectors.
Recent exploration at Emilia, approximately 2.3km northeast of San José, has delivered encouraging results, including underground channel sampling of up to 2.65m at 21.10% zinc and composite intervals of 4.50m at 13.71% zinc.
Underground drilling has also confirmed that the mineralised system at Emilia extends over 100m in width within a jog of a northeast-oriented fault trend.
The new surface program is designed to:
-
Test the continuity of zinc mineralisation between known historical mining centres.
-
Establish the geometry, thickness and depth continuity of mineralised zones.
-
Test prospective areas outside the Company's existing Mineral Resource Estimate.
-
Generate geological and assay data to support resource consultants Asturmine in preparing the unified Novales MRE upgrade targeted for Q1 2027.
The first inclined surface hole commenced at the San José mine site on 20 October 2026.
It is designed to test a gap in a northwest-oriented line of historical drillholes, some of which intersected moderate zinc mineralisation, and investigate a major northeast-oriented fault structure that may represent a feeder zone for the district's mineralisation.
In parallel, Altoro's geological team is progressing surface drill pad preparation, landowner access agreements and water delivery arrangements near the Emilia mine to support subsequent drilling.
Emilia underground drilling continues as assays remain pending
Underground diamond drilling is continuing on Level -2 at the Emilia mine, targeting the upper levels of the western side of the deposit.
Laboratory assays remain pending for the first nine underground diamond drillholes, representing an important next stage in the Company's ongoing assessment of the Emilia mineralised system.
Processing of recent underground drill core is continuing, including geotechnical logging, bulk density measurements, photography, geological logging and sampling.
The resulting information is being integrated into the Company's project database and Leapfrog geological modelling software.
Altoro is also finalising its agreement and ongoing collaboration with resource consultants Asturmine to advance the planned MRE upgrade and optimise future drilling targets at Emilia.
Separately, the Company's Mine Restart Steering Committee continues to progress engineering and hydrogeological studies ahead of the planned submission of the Mine & Plant Project and Restoration Plan to the Cantabrian mining authorities.
Guajaraz maiden drilling program completed
Altoro has also completed its maiden exploratory diamond drilling program at the 100%-owned Guajaraz Zinc-Lead-Silver Project in Toledo Province, central Spain.
The five-hole program concluded on 15 October 2026 with completion of drillhole G-05, delivering 1,061.80m of effective drill core.
The campaign was undertaken between 14 July and 15 October 2026 using two diamond drill rigs and comprised holes G-01bis, G-02, G-03, G-04 and G-05.
Total drilling reached 1,318.20m, including 256.40m from the initial G-01 hole, which was terminated after a lost drill string and subsequently redrilled as G-01bis at no additional cost to the Company.
All 1,061.80m of effective drill core has been transported to Altoro's Novales facility in Cantabria for geological and geotechnical logging, photography and sampling before dispatch to ALS Laboratories for assay.
The completion of the Guajaraz program allows Altoro to progress its geological assessment of the project while deploying drilling resources to its flagship Novales operation.
Altoro evaluates additional Spanish growth opportunities
Alongside its drilling activities, Altoro has commenced an initial technical assessment of newly gazetted mineral permits in northern Spain.
The Company is evaluating zinc and polymetallic opportunities that could complement its existing portfolio and expand its district-scale footprint in Cantabria.
The permits have been announced through official regional bulletins and are expected to be republished with further details in the Spanish State Bulletin.
Following publication, a 60-day competitive tender window will open, requiring applicants to demonstrate technical and financial capability and submit comprehensive exploration plans.
Altoro's technical assessment is ongoing as the Company considers potential opportunities consistent with its broader Spanish growth strategy.
Next steps
Altoro is progressing multiple workstreams across its Spanish portfolio, with activities focused on advancing the Novales resource upgrade, continuing drilling at Emilia and completing technical assessment of the Guajaraz core.
Planned activities include:
-
Reporting assay results from the first nine Emilia underground diamond drillholes following receipt and processing.
-
Continuing the 20-hole surface diamond drilling program at Novales, including preparation of drill pads near Emilia.
-
Continuing underground diamond drilling on Level -2 at Emilia.
-
Completing geological and geotechnical logging and sampling of the 1,061.80m Guajaraz drilling program ahead of dispatch to ALS Laboratories.
-
Working with Asturmine on 3D geological modelling and drill target optimisation to support the unified Novales Mineral Resource Estimate upgrade targeted for Q1 2027.
-
Progressing Mine Restart Steering Committee workstreams and finalising the Mine & Plant Project and Restoration Plan for targeted submission to Cantabrian mining authorities by the end of 2026.
The ongoing surface and underground programs are intended to provide the geological information required to assess continuity between the historical Novales mining centres and support the Company's longer-term development planning.
About us:
About the Novales Project
The Novales Project is located in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin in northern Spain, approximately 30 km southwest of the regional capital, Santander. The project is centred around former producing historical underground workings and features a significant >12 km mineralised trend, alongside a sub-parallel 3 km trend, delineated from contemporary and historical data.
The region is a world-class brownfield zinc district renowned for hosting multiple Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) deposits. The Novales Project is located just 9 km from the world-class Reocín Mine—the largest known strata-bound carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposit in Spain—and is within trucking distance (~180 km) of the San Juan de Nieva zinc smelter operated by Asturiana de Zinc (100% owned by Glencore).
Contact details:
Media Contact
Jane Morgan
Director – Investor and Media Relations
E: [email protected]
Company Contact
Tony Wehby
Chairman
Altoro Metals Limited
E: [email protected]
