Apollo Minerals Expands High-Grade Tungsten Targets at Salau Mine
Apollo Minerals has uncovered new zones of unmined tungsten mineralisation at its Couflens project in France, broadening the historic Salau mine’s footprint and underscoring the deposit’s significant exploration potential.
- New Veronique-Upper Zone shows tungsten intercepts up to 4.3m at 1.3% WO3
- Historical data review digitised over 10,000 pages, validating 950 drill holes
- Phase 1 drilling to focus on Veronique and Veronique-Upper zones
- Salau mine historically produced high-grade tungsten averaging 1.5% WO3
- Potential gold credits associated with tungsten mineralisation identified
New High-Grade Tungsten Zones Extend Salau Mine Footprint
Apollo Minerals Limited (ASX:AON) has significantly expanded the targeting footprint of its historic Salau tungsten mine in France following an extensive review of historical data. The highlight is the identification of the Veronique-Upper Zone, a previously unmined area exhibiting tungsten intercepts up to 4.3 metres at 1.3% WO3, alongside multiple logged but unsampled intervals suggesting further mineralisation potential.
Salau was once one of the world’s highest-grade tungsten operations, delivering an average mining grade of 1.5% WO3 during its 15 years of activity from 1971 to 1986. The newly defined zones suggest a larger-scale mineralised system extending across multiple areas, including the Eagle Zone, which lies in a structurally complex setting adjacent to granodiorite contacts and fault structures.
Historical Data Review Unlocks Exploration Insights
The company’s data review has been exhaustive, digitising over 10,000 pages of historical reports, drill logs, and underground sampling records sourced mainly from the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM) archives in Orléans. This effort has validated a comprehensive dataset comprising 950 diamond drill holes and 2,700 underground face samples, revealing numerous unmined mineralised zones beneath the accessible 1430 Level.
Importantly, many historical drill holes logged scheelite or massive sulphides but were not assayed due to the previous operator’s higher cut-off grade of approximately 0.7% WO3. Apollo Minerals interprets these unsampled intervals as promising targets for further mineralisation, potentially underestimated in past assessments.
Phase 1 Drilling to Test Expanded Targets
With these new insights, Apollo Minerals is preparing for a Phase 1 underground drilling program focused on the Veronique and Veronique-Upper zones. The drilling aims to expand known mineralisation, twin historical holes, and test the deposit’s mineralised width. The program will also collect geochemical data beyond tungsten to support 3D modelling, resource estimation, and metallurgical studies.
Permitting and environmental assessments are underway to enable safe underground exploration, reflecting the project’s location within the Parc naturel régional Pyrénées Ariégeoises. The company’s Managing Director, Neil Inwood, emphasised the project’s unique high-grade nature and exploration upside, stating the newly identified zones demonstrate "significant exploration potential of the globally unique Couflens high-grade tungsten project."
Gold Credits Add Further Interest
Beyond tungsten, the Salau deposit exhibits potential gold credits associated with the mineralisation. Historical assays, though limited, have identified high-grade gold intervals within the Veronique ore zone, linked to hydrothermal fluids along major fault structures. These east-west trending faults within the La Fourque granodiorite intrusion are now priority exploration targets for gold alongside tungsten.
The combination of skarn scheelite and massive sulphide mineralisation styles, alongside intrusion-related gold potential, positions Couflens as a multi-commodity exploration opportunity. Apollo Minerals plans to incorporate metallurgical test work to refine processing flowsheets and explore other economic minerals.
Legal and Environmental Progress Supports Exploration
Recent legal developments have cleared hurdles for Apollo Minerals to advance Couflens exploration, following a court decision rejecting challenges to the project’s exploration permit. This regulatory clarity, coupled with ongoing environmental studies, supports the company’s plans to commence underground drilling activities in the near term.
While historical data provides a strong foundation, the complex geology and presence of unsampled intervals mean that upcoming drilling results will be critical to confirming the scale and grade continuity of the mineralisation. The project’s location in a protected natural park also adds layers of permitting complexity that will influence the pace of development.
Bottom Line?
Apollo Minerals’ expanded tungsten targets at Salau set the stage for a crucial drilling campaign that will test the deposit’s true scale and grade, with gold credits adding a compelling twist.
Questions in the middle?
- How will Phase 1 drilling refine the understanding of mineralisation continuity in the Veronique-Upper Zone?
- What impact will permitting and environmental requirements have on the exploration timeline?
- To what extent can the historical unsampled intervals contribute to a revised resource estimate?
