Menéndez explained that Orovalle is also carrying out more exploration work at the El Valle-Boinás gold, copper and silver mine located in the nearby Belmonte de Miranda municipality, as the company would like to extend the mine life.

The El Valle-Boinás/Carlés project is in the Rio Narcea Gold Belt of northern Spain, a historic mining area whose potential was first discovered by the Romans 2,000 years ago. This specific site was previously mined from 1997 to 2006 by Rio Narcea Gold Mines. They produced nearly 1,000,000 ounces of gold and over 20,000 tonnes of copper prior to the closure of the mine.

By 2017, total measured and indicated resources for the site were estimated at 9.2 million tonnes of mineral.

Overall, Orvana reported that in the second quarter of fiscal 2018, it produced 24,788 ounces of gold and 2.6 million pounds of copper. “El Valle oxide production sustained at 34% of mill ore feed, achieving highest gold ounce production since 2014,” a company report reads.