Eloro Resources: Unlocking a World-Class Silver-Tin-Polymetallic Deposit in Bolivia

Miningvisuals
13 hours ago
9 min read

Interview: Tom Larsen, CEO of Eloro Resources (Sponsored content)

Eloro Resources (TSX: ELO), a company focused on finding and evaluating mineral deposits, is a key player in the mining industry. With a seasoned team and a strategic focus on South America, Eloro has made a significant discovery: a vast silver-zinc-lead system adjacent to a high-grade tin system in the Bolivian tin belt. In just three years, the company transformed its Iska Iska prospect into a large-scale deposit with over 600 million tonnes of polymetallic mineralization.

The project is the sole focus of Eloro, and it has garnered global attention for its impressive scale and potential. We spoke with Eloro Resources' CEO Thomas Larsen to discuss the Iska Iska deposit, the company's strategy, and the future of mining in Bolivia.

To start, could you give our audience an overview of Eloro Resources and its primary focus in the market?

Thomas Larsen: Our core focus at Eloro has always been in the business of finding and evaluating potential mineral deposits. It is what we do best. Anyone who is involved in the mining industry knows that there has been a clear lack of new mining discoveries made over the past 10 years, and for us, that’s what we are trying to do: find and develop highly economically viable deposits. To accomplish this, we have built an experienced management and technical team with a long history of exploration and development experience, particularly in South America.

For our shareholders, this focus has clearly paid off. Eloro has uncovered a vast silver-zinc-lead system adjacent to a high-grade tin system within the Bolivian tin belt. In just three years, the company transformed Iska Iska from a grassroots prospect to a large-scale deposit with over 600 million tonnes of polymetallic mineralization and a yet-to-be-defined tin resource.

As Iska Iska is such a quality deposit on a global scale, it is our only focus at Eloro: the continued refinement and development of this deposit.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what led you to take the helm at Eloro?

Thomas Larsen: I have always had an affinity for mining exploration, stemming from my earlier career in the brokerage industry. I just felt that connection to the industry and knew I needed to get involved. Forty-plus years later, I am still in the junior mining and exploration space, still filled with the same passion as back then.

I also knew early on that I needed to surround myself with the best technical people in order to succeed. I have been fortunate to have been able to accomplish this both at Eloro and in my previous CEO role at Champion Minerals, the predecessor of Champion Iron, which was acquired in 2014 and now has a market capitalization of around $2.5 billion.

A lot of our current shareholders at Eloro were shareholders in Champion Minerals, so I am grateful for all the support. I hope to make them more money with Eloro.

Your presentation highlights that Iska Iska is located in the heart of the Bolivian Tin-Silver Belt. Can you expand on what makes this specific area so attractive? Perhaps you could touch on the geological potential, the advantages of having excellent existing infrastructure, and the significance of being in proximity to world-class deposits?

Thomas Larsen: By way of background, Iska Iska is located in the Potosi department of Bolivia, and you can get an idea of the area's mining potential from historical Spanish nomenclature. Potosi in Spanish translates to “treasure or fortune,” and Cerro Rico, the famous silver deposit in the region, translates to “rich mountain.” Cerro Rico is arguably the world's most prolific silver mine, producing since 1545, and is polymetallic with tin, just like Iska Iska.

The geological setting has attracted mining since before the discovery of Cerro Rico, and it continues today, so there is a deep and generational understanding of what mining means to the economy of the region. If you’re a geologist and understand the volcanic and hydrothermal activity that occurred throughout the region, it draws you to the mining potential. Yes, there are world-class deposits already established and more being discovered as we speak, such as Iska Iska, but Bolivia is completely underexplored because of its political history.

Can you give us a sense of the scale of the project; how does Iska Iska compare to other projects globally?

Thomas Larsen: I don’t know how to explain it better than to say the scale of the deposit is impressive. We have drilled approximately 120,000 meters, and we still have not found the limits to the deposit. It is still open in multiple directions. Of our key minerals—silver, zinc, and tin—we know Iska Iska currently ranks in the top ten undeveloped deposits globally.

Specifically related to tin, there has only been one tin deposit of significance developed over the past 20 years, so that comparison is simple: there are none; we stand alone. We also rarely talk about the indium within the deposit, which in itself is substantial. Look for some details related to the indium component in a December resource update.

We feel extremely fortunate to be associated with such a deposit but also know it is time to focus on showing the potential profitability to investors through a PEA, which will only capture a small portion of this giant deposit but still show a mine with 12-15 years of potential.

It has taken us a while to get a true understanding of all the geological structures and zonations of this deposit, simply because Iska Iska is a true grassroots discovery; no drilling had ever taken place prior to our first exploration in late 2020. We have also done a significant amount of metallurgical work, which is significantly beyond what would be required of a PEA.

The geology at Iska Iska shows a complex overprinting of high-temperature tin and epithermal silver. How does this complexity impact your exploration model, and conversely, how does the consistency of the mineralization simplify the potential for a bulk mining operation with a low strip ratio?

Thomas Larsen: Background mineralization is always present in our assay results, which is exactly what you need for a cost-efficient bulk mining operation. Although we see variations in mineralogy between the various breccias in the deposit, the continuity allows for minimal waste in our proposed mining plan. Geography also plays a role in the attractiveness of an open pit scenario where our processing plant will be at a lower elevation than the proposed pit, so mining costs will benefit from gravity.

Although the deposit sounds complex, the hydrothermal events that drove the mineralization of the deposit are typical of high-grade porphyry-tin and polymetallic deposits of the Bolivian Tin Belt district. Dr. Osvaldo Arce, who oversees our exploration program, has written two books on Bolivian Ore deposits, so we have arguably the best person available for the job.

What are the next major milestones for Iska Iska? With such a massive mineralized system, is the primary goal to continue expanding the resource, or are you on a clear track towards a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)?

Thomas Larsen: Since early 2025, our focus has been on the definition and expansion of the higher-grade structures of the Santa Barbara deposit and the starter pit for our mine plan in the PEA. Economically, geologically, and geographically, it is the logical location to start production.

So, to answer this question, everyone in the Eloro organization believes this to be a 40+ year deposit, but drilling it out to this extent does not make economic sense for our shareholders. Any future buyer of the deposit will always want some meat left on the bone.

We are also fully aware that some key institutional buyers will not invest in companies prior to a PEA report, and neither will some corporate entities that need to bolster their mining portfolio. It is our view that the best way to highlight the potential of Iska Iska is to reflect the potential profitability of the deposit via a PEA.

Look for the potential of two resource updates prior to year-end this year, followed by the PEA towards the end of the first quarter of 2026.

Eloro's share price has historically faced a 'Bolivia discount' due to perceived country risk. With a presidential election on the horizon, how do you address investor concerns about political stability, and what is your outlook on the future of mining investment in the country?

Thomas Larsen: There is clearly a discount and a disconnect with global mining when it comes to Bolivian assets. We see it in our share price and in the discussions that have taken place with other corporates.

Eloro is extremely optimistic about the most recent elections and what that offers Bolivia. The results of the first round of the elections are a clear statement that things need to change and that the MAS party policies are not in the best interests of the country going forward. It is clear when you talk to Bolivian citizens and our staff in Bolivia that they see the profound positive changes that have taken place in Argentina and hope for a similar outcome in Bolivia.

Since our time in the country, starting in 2020, the government has been clearly disappointed in the level of mining capital coming into the country and has reached out to Eloro multiple times to see what is required to accelerate the process. We have continued to reiterate that moving disputes to international arbitration is a key item, as are an accelerated licensing process and less cumbersome mining laws. All three of which we feel will be addressed by the incoming government.

Since starting our operations in Bolivia in 2020, Eloro has had remarkable success operating in the country, seeing truly little in terms of political issues or challenges. The biggest issues we have faced in Bolivia are diesel shortages, which have forced us to minimize the number of drill rigs in the field; a US dollar shortage that affects the exchange rate, often to our benefit; and mining licensing slowdowns in AJAM. All are challenges and out of our control but definitely nothing that is insurmountable.

Locally, we have agreements in place with all the communities in the region and the social license with them to operate. Wherever you are in the world, Canada or Bolivia, if you don’t have local support, you don’t have anything.

On that note, ESG is crucial for operating successfully in any jurisdiction. How does Eloro approach its environmental and social responsibilities in the Potosí region?

Thomas Larsen: It started on day one. We have enough experience within the management team to know that if you don’t have local support, you don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to making the deposit into an operating mine. That is why our social policies started on day one.

Except for one staff member, all of the thirty-plus employees in Bolivia are Bolivian, including Dr. Osvaldo Arce, our Executive VP of Latin Operations. As much as possible, we look to hire staff, mining services, and supplies from Bolivian sources. It goes a long way toward showing our dedication to the country.

Finally, we are currently in the process of our initial third-party ESG evaluation on the project in conjunction with the ITA's (International Tin Association) tin code.

With tin production heavily concentrated in Asia, Iska Iska represents a significant potential new source. Globally, how do you see Eloro contributing to the diversification of the global tin supply chain for Western economies?

Thomas Larsen: There are very few regions in the world where tin forms geologically. The Andean tin belt, which runs through both Bolivia and Peru, is one of only a handful of locations blessed with tin. The benefit for Eloro is that all the political challenges of Bolivia prior to 2020 now make the country one of the most attractive places in the world to develop this critical mineral.

Most tin concentrates produced today (56% of total mine output) come from China, Indonesia, and Myanmar—an extremely high geographic concentration risk that the U.S. is fully aware of and is eager to help resolve, especially as they look to onshore technology production back to the U.S. The securitization of critical metals for economic and militaristic needs is not going away.

With both silver and tin prices showing strength, how does the current commodity price environment impact your strategy for advancing and ultimately monetizing Iska Iska?

Thomas Larsen: From a day-to-day operational basis, this strength does not have much impact on the exploration front. Our program remains consistent in its focus on expanding and upgrading the high-grade portion of the Santa Barbara deposit. Moving forward toward a resource update and a PEA in the next 6 months continues to be our near-term goal.

Since the start of our initial exploration program, silver has moved from $22/oz to now over $40/oz, so the economics of this deposit definitely have become even more robust.

Corporate discussions are always ongoing, but clearly, interest is increasing with an improvement in commodity pricing and from our drill results.

Finally, for investors learning about Eloro today, what are the key catalysts and news flow they should be watching for in the next 6 to 12 months?

Thomas Larsen: After our most recent financing, we are cashed up for the foreseeable future. Look for a continuation of the drilling program to define and upgrade our resource for a PEA. Lots of drill results, a resource update, and a PEA are all coming in the next 6-9 months.

For more information on Eloro Resources, please visit their official website: https://elororesources.com/

Disclaimer

The information presented in this interview is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice. The views and opinions expressed are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of MiningVisuals. While we strive to present accurate and timely information, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, or suitability of the information contained herein. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and due diligence, and to consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For complete and official information regarding Eloro Resources, please refer to the company's public filings on SEDAR.