The Crepulje (pronounced TSREPULYA) prospect occurs in north-western Kosovo, approximately 17km west of Mitrovica. Crepulje is a high-grade Zn-Pb oxide prospect that extends over some 5km in strike length and has both underground and open pittable potential.

Historical exploration work in Crepulje was done in the 1960's through 1970's. Crepulje was not a producing mine, it is an abandoned exploration project. This early work identified a 5km long by 400m to 800m wide zone of anomalous soil geochemistry (greater than 1000ppm Zn; see Figure 1, click to enlarge). Four adits and six trenches were excavated and sampled with the best trench results being 7.0m at 15.8% Zn, 1.5% Pb; 4.0m at 18.1% Zn, 2.2% Pb; and 3.0m at 32.3% Zn, 2.8% Pb. The project was abandoned as the technology to treat Zn-Pb oxide mineralisation did not exist in the 1970's.

Work in Progress

Lydian has conducted reconnaissance rock-chip sampling, a soil geochemical orientation survey and resampling of trenches across the Crepulje project area. Rock-chip sampling has returned extremely high grades for zinc and lead (up to 49.3% zinc and 9.2% lead) with 90% of grab samples returning greater than 30% combined zinc and lead over an area of some 200 by 400 metres near the former Yugoslav exploration workings (see Figure 1). Results from orientation soil sampling along lines crossing the extensive 5km long Former Yugoslav soil geochemical anomaly have extended the potential for higher grade zinc and lead mineralization at Crepulje (up to 13.7% zinc and 3.3% lead in soil).

Results from trench sampling are awaited.





Geology

Crepulje demonstrates some features consistent with supergene, non-sulphide zinc deposits of direct replacement-type (such as Accha, Peru; Angouran, Mehdiabad, Iran) and wallrock replacement-type systems (such as Scorpion, Namibia and Long Keng, Myanmar). Grab rock chip sampling by Lydian has returned best results for Zn and Pb from smithsonite mineralisation located in a basal conglomerate and within limestones at or close to what appears to be a partially inverted Cretaceous basin margin.