DRC Project - interim update

RNS Number : 5746O

Red Rock Resources plc

11 October 2021

 

Red Rock Resources PLC

("Red Rock" or the "Company")

DRC Copper-Cobalt Project - Drill Programme Interim Update

11 October 2021

Red Rock Resources Plc, the natural resource development company with interests in gold, copper/cobalt, and other minerals, announces an update on the reverse circulation (RC) drill programme at the Luanshimba copper-cobalt project in the Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Luanshimba project is operated by Red Rock Galaxy SA, an 80% owned Congolese subsidiary of Red Rock.

Highlights

· Programme recently completed with 2,469m of RC drilling, in 29 holes of 60m to 100m.

· Three prospects drilled, at Kilembwe South, Kilembwe East, and Bukulu.

· 2,763 samples including QAQC samples prepared at ALS Global's preparation laboratory before sending in batches to the ALS laboratory in South Africa for analysis.

· The majority of assay results received, but those from later holes including some with significant visible mineralisation still awaited.

· Holes intercepted clastics from carbonaceous shales and carbonates of the Lower Roan subgroup in Zambian Copperbelt-type strata.

· Multiple fault zones and fault gouges encountered in Kilembwe South where Cu/Co anomalism identified from previous soil geochemistry.

· Cu-Co Heterogenite oxide mineralisation found in multiple fault gouges, with sulphides identified at the bottom of some holes.

· At the Bukulu prospect, a pyritic zone overlying chalcopyrites encountered under the carbonaceous shales, supporting the thesis of a vertical mineral zonation similar to copper-bearing Lower Roan strata of the Zambian Copperbelt.

· Full interpretation and reporting of grades will be undertaken following receipt of final assay results.

The drill programme is being carried out by Rubaco SARL, with geological support being provided by Minerals Exploration Associates SARL ("Minex Consulting SARL").

Red Rock Chairman Andrew Bell comments : "Further results support the interpretation of a typical Lower Roan assemblage with prominent cobalt accompanied by copper in oxides near surface underlain by sulphide-bearing rocks with indications of vertically zoned copper minerals.

The limited penetration of the RC rig used in this initial programme means that the sulphide-bearing strata were in many holes not reached, but the drill campaign has achieved its primary objective in evidencing that potentially significant mineralisation, both hypogene and supergene, has taken place within the license area.

It is too soon to speak of a discovery or of economic potential, as we await the full results from the laboratory and will then have to assess both the grades, the volume of data from the relevant strata, and the continuity between holes.

However we can already feel encouraged by the many positive indications from this small maiden drill programme. We look forward to giving a full report within the next weeks."

Background

Red Rock owns 80% of the Luanshimba Project, which is situated 65 km south-east of the provincial capital of Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga, in a 420 hectare prospecting license  (PR13513) in the Congolese Copperbelt.

The tenement is situated along a disrupted anticline with undifferentiated Roan sediments of the Mwashya Subgroup draping off a nearby basement dome, similar to some other Cu-deposits in the immediate area. 

A comprehensive termite mound sampling programme combined with reconnaissance geological mapping was conducted in 2018 over an area underlain by prospective Roan Group sediments. 452 samples were collected on a 100x100m grid, and then split, with one batch sent to ALS Laboratories in Johannesburg while the other was retained for XRF analysis.

Red Rock identified in the southern part of the licence a 2km long anomaly up to 500m wide striking ENE, with anomalous metal assays with peak values of 519ppm Cu and 425ppm Co, corroborating earlier XRF values and partly coincident with above average contents of pathfinder elements Bi and V. Given the regionally low background, these results were considered indicative of likely Cu-Co mineralisation at depth.

In the north, a SE- striking copper-cobalt anomaly some 1,400m by 300m wide, while more subdued, was considered significant as it clearly mimics the regional metalliferous stratigraphic and structural trend.

70.72 line-kilometres of magnetic data was collected in December 2020 by a ground survey conducted on north-south lines with a 100m line spacing and subjected to interpretation in early 2021 by Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience of Sudbury, Ontario. This was then followed up by an induced polarisation (IP) and resistivity programme across the three target areas.

In the current drill programme 2,469 metres has been completed at the Luanshimba Project over all three identified prospects, Kilembwe South, Kilembwe East and Bukulu. Depth of the RC holes varies between 60 and 100 metres.

A total of 2,763 samples including QAQC samples have been collected from the RC Drilling. Sample batches were sent to Congo Analytical Laboratory (COAL) in Lubumbashi for preparation. COAL is operating the ALS Preparation facility in Lubumbashi. The pulp samples have been and are being sent to ALS Laboratory in South Africa for analysis. Multi-element ICP method has been requested for all samples; then each sample that will returns over 1,000 ppm Cu/Co will then be re-assayed using a specific ICP method (ME-OG62).

Completed RC holes intercepted lithological units comprising both clastics (from sandstone sandy siltstone to mudstone-carbonaceous shale) and carbonate rocks (dolomites) belonging to the Lower Roan Subgroup of the Zambian type Copperbelt.

Multiple fault zones and fault gouges have been identified occurring in the Kilembwe South Prospect where Cu and Co anomalies were identified from the previous soil geochemistry survey. Heterogenite (Cu-Co oxides) have been found in replacement mode in the multiple fault gouges overlying a pink arkosic sandstone. 

In addition to the fault zones and fault gouges, RC holes completed in the Bukulu Prospect, situated north to the Kilembwe Prospect, intercepted a pyritic zone overlying a chalcopyrite zone hosted in a light greenish grey dolomitic siltstone underlying the carbonaceous shale that might be interpreted as a key stratigraphical marker of the Lower Roan Subgroup of the Zambian-type Copperbelt. This indicates the same vertical mineral zonation including chalcocite-bornite-chalcopyrite-pyrite that characterises the hypogene mineralogy of many Zambian Cu deposits. 

The technical information in this report has been compiled and reviewed under the supervision of Kazadi S-B. Barry (MSc), Pr.Sc.Nat., MGSSA. who is a member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions. Mr. Kazadi has sufficient experience in the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration. Mr. Kazadi consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears. Mr Kazadi is a Managing Director of Mineral Exploration Associates SARL, consultants (under the name Minex Consulting) to the Company.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

GLOSSARY

Arkose:  a weathered sedimentary sandstone primarily composed of quartz and feldspar

Bornite:  a sulphide copper mineral with chemical composition Cu₅FeS₄

Clastic:  a rock consisting of broken pieces of other rock

Chalcocite:  an important sulphide copper mineral with chemical composition Cu₂S

Chalcopyrite:the most abundant sulphice copper mineral with chemical formula CuFeS

Dolomite:  a sedimentary calcium magnesium carbonate rock

Fault gouge:  crushed and fragmented rock produced by friction between the two sides of a moving fault

Heterogenite:a mineral oxide of cobalt, sometimes containing copper and iron

Hypogene:  used of processes within the earth's crust

Lower Roan Subgroup: the sediments deposited in a continental rift basin after 880 Ma, that host the majority of Zambian Copperbelt Cu-Co deposits

Pyrite:  the most abundant sulphide mineral, an iron sulphide with chemical composition FeS₂

Supergene:  used of processes near the earth surface

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Bell 0207 747 9990  Chairman Red Rock Resources Plc

Scott Kaintz 0207 747 9990  Director Red Rock Resources Plc

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

Jason Robertson 0207 374 2212    Broker First Equity Limited     

 

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