Australian JV - Update on Exploration

RNS Number : 4770W

Red Rock Resources plc

23 April 2021

 

 

Red Rock Resources PLC

("Red Rock" or the "Company")

Australian JV - Update on Exploration

23 April 2021

Red Rock Resources Plc, the natural resource development company with interests in gold, manganese and base metals, announces, further to the announcement of 3 February 2021, an update in respect of Red Rock Australasia Pty Ltd ("RRAL") a joint venture company with gold exploration interests near the historic mining centre of Ballarat in the Gold Fields of Victoria. Red Rock owns 50.1% of RRAL, with 49.9% being owned by Power Metal Resources plc (AIM:POW).  

Highlights:

· Further to the Company's announcement of 3 February 2021 announcing the commencement of exploration on recently granted exploration licences a sampling and mapping programme has been undertaken.

· The programme objectives were to identify southern extensions to the main lode systems of Ballarat East through looking for low level gold anomalism and pathfinder elements and to evaluate the relative effectiveness of XRF and MMI testing in the region, as part of a programme of work to constrain the areas to be drill tested later in the year.

· A total of 1,024 soil and rock chip samples were collected in EL007271 and EL007281 in the old Monmouth/Enfield and O'Laughlin/Scotsburn mining areas for X-ray Fluorescence ("XRF") and Mobile Metal Irons ("MMI") testing as follows:

-  142 soil samples have been collected to date in EL007281 with rock chip sampling, mapping and sampling of road cuttings continuing at present.

-  882 soil samples have been collected in EL007271 of which 84 have been sent for MMI analysis. 

· Sample analysis results are expected to be received in the coming weeks.

· Preparation of work plan and stakeholder engagement for trenching around Monmouth.

RRAL Director Dave Holden comments : "Increasing evidence from previously unknown workings of east-west lines of mineralization at Monmouth, in an area where the main geological trend runs north-south, has been an interesting outcome of our work to date, and is being actively followed up.

As early as 1903 it was recognised that this mineralisation may be different to the main Ballarat system, with reference to a pyrite lode and "gold shale". The numerous reefs along both the Happy Thought line and at the Monmouth Mine were considered at the time to be strongly reminiscent of the Jubilee Mine project.(mined 1887 - 1913). That mine produced approximately 130,000 ounces of gold at a recovered grade of around 12 g/t*, showing the potential importance of east-west structures in this environment.

The programme is going well and besides working on our technical presentations we continue to intensify our community engagement and to prepare our environmental programme including flora and fauna surveys. The pace of activity is intensifying as more of our licence applications start to be granted."

*ref: Navarre Minerals Ltd website

Background Information on Current Programme

Prospects

The O'Laughlin prospect is coincident with a broad potassic anomaly and weakly anomalous geochemical signature.  It covers minor hard rock historical workings that remain largely undocumented whilst areas of alluvial workings exist in the valleys on the side of the main ridge confirm the likelihood of gold shedding from within the prospect area.**  Nearby, Scotsburn displays a similar geochemical and radiometric signature and sits north along strike from O'Laughlin. 

**   One map reference to the Glasgow and Enfield reefs 1859 and a single newspaper article refer to mining on the Glasgow reef in 1865. These reefs lie central to this project area.

The Scotsburn prospect comprises a more consolidated line of workings for over a kilometre to the well-known Locomotive Extended mine and shafts north of Buninyong (southeast of Ballarat).   The Devonshire reef system just east of Buninyong township and extending down through the Scotsburn target area was actively mined in numerous shafts during the late 1890s.

The Enfield prospect (or Monmouth prospect) covers the historical area of the Monmouth and Happy Thought mines which are also largely undocumented however the prospect area is considered potentially to cover the southern extension of the Ballarat West lode system.

Programme

RRAL has initiated a comprehensive soil sampling program over the areas in conjunction with detailed field mapping.

The sampling is using both traditional MMI low level analytical methods as well as evaluating the efficacy of portable XRF analyser as a cost-effective alternative allowing a significantly higher number of samples to be collected with a shorter turnaround for results.

In conjunction with the extensive soil sampling, field mapping and discrete sampling of quartz veins both within workings and newly identified at surface will be undertaken. It is anticipated that the outcomes of the first phase of exploration will lead to confirmation that significant mineralisation is present and will allow planning to start for a drill programme later in the year. 

The technical information relating to exploration in this report is compiled by David Holden, BSc, MBA, MEM, who is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Holden has experience in the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration. Mr Holden is the Exploration Manager of RRAL.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Bell 0207 747 9990  Chairman Red Rock Resources Plc

Roland Cornish/ Rosalind Hill Abrahams 0207 628 3396 NOMAD Beaumont Cornish Limited

Mark Treharne 0203 700 2500                                                   Broker Pello Capital Limited

 

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