Australian copper and gold explorer Middle Island Resources announced on Wednesday that it has commenced exploration activities at the Bobija polymetallic project in western Serbia, which is prospective for gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc.
“The Bobija deposit and surrounding region remains inadequately explored and offers potential for the delineation of significant polymetallic mineralisation through a systematic exploration program. Furthermore, the full extent of the gold mineralisation is yet to be fully quantified, with gold potentially representing a major component,” the company stated.
Earlier this month, Middle Island signed a binding share sale and purchase agreement to acquire local peer Konstantin Resources, whose Serbian portfolio includes the Bobija, Priboj, and Timok projects. Together, these projects cover 620 square kilometres and are prospective for gold and copper.
The Bobija project itself comprises six mineral licences across 208 square kilometres. Historic work in the area included exploratory underground development and multiple drilling campaigns during the 1960s and 1980s by the former Yugoslav government, focused on barium, lead, zinc, and silver. Recent limited rock chip sampling by Konstantin Resources returned promising results, including assays of up to 5.24 grams per tonne of gold, 120 g/t of silver, 4.66% zinc, and 4.36% lead.
Middle Island will seek shareholder approval for the acquisition of Konstantin Resources at a meeting scheduled for late October. The projects are located within the Western Tethyan Belt, a globally significant mineral province hosting major deposits such as Zijin Mining’s Čukaru Peki and Dundee Precious Metals’ Čoka Rakita in Serbia, as well as Rio Tinto’s Jadar project and Dundee’s Vareš project in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
