Interim Results

RNS Number : 9097K

Rockfire Resources PLC

02 September 2019

 

2 September 2019

Rockfire Resources plc

("Rockfire" or the "Company")

Interim Results

Rockfire Resources plc (LON: ROCK), the gold and base-metal exploration company, announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019 and provides an update in respect of its exploration activities on its 100%-owned licences in Queensland, Australia. The Company has maintained a focused and strategic campaign of continuous exploration on its portfolio of tenements.

Highlights

·      Maiden JORC Resource of 51,000 ounces of gold at the Lighthouse Gold Project;

·      Average grade at Copperhead porphyry copper increased to 0.35% Cu Eq.;

·      Acquisition of the Copper Dome porphyry project completed;

·      Soil anomalies up to 3.86g/t (386ppb) Au returned from sampling at Double Event;

·      Native Bee Prospect with historical rock samples to 51.8g/t Au, trench results of 19m @ 2.80g/t Au and drilling of 3m @ 5.13 g/t Au identified within the Lighthouse tenement;

·      Two broad gold-in-soil anomalies identified at Cardigan Dam;

·      Final licence in Papua New Guinea not renewed, completing the Company's withdrawal.

Portfolio Update

Double Event, Lighthouse Tenement

As announced in May 2019, soil and rock sampling at the Double Event Prospect (part of the Lighthouse tenement in Queensland, Australia) returned strong gold anomalism. The results successfully extended the surface expression of the gold lode by a further one kilometre towards the west.

A total of 424 soil samples and 12 rock samples were collected. Discrete zones of well-defined gold-in-soil anomalism were identified, with each zone approximately 350m in length. The gold-in-soil anomaly is considered high, with values up to 3.86g/t (386ppb) Au being returned. Of the sampled collected, 6% returned values above 50ppb. The gold-in-soil distribution highlighted a potential parallel lode to the main lode, thereby increasing the overall opportunity to discover near-surface gold mineralisation.

In July 2019, the Company announced a maiden JORC Resource of over 50,000 ounces of near-surface gold at the Lighthouse Project. The resource is quoted as;

Inferred 1,349,000 tonnes @ 1.18g/t Au for 51,000 ounces of gold

To achieve this resource, the Company has a discovery cost of AUD$13.00 (£7.50) per resource ounce of gold and includes resources at both Double Event and Plateau Prospects. The deepest drilling at Double Event is 25m vertical from surface, whilst most of the drilling at Plateau is within 50m vertical from the surface.

Both prospects are open in all directions and are positioned within easy trucking distance to two operational gold processing plants.

Table 1: Double Event rock sampling results - April 2019

Sample	Gold
Number	(ppm)
BDRS001	58.50
BDRS002	0.14
BDRS003	9.70
BDRS004	4.75
BDRS005	10.80
BDRS006	14.90
BDRS007	0.10
BDRS008	0.20
BDRS009	1.11
BDRS010	27.50
BDRS011	0.05
BDRS012	0.05

Cardigan Dam Prospect, Lighthouse Tenement

Soil sampling at the Cardigan Dam Prospect, also part of the Lighthouse tenement returned promising gold-in-soil results. Two broad gold-in-soil anomalies were identified, with each trend being approximately 400m long x 100m wide in dimension. Best gold-in-soil results were 205ppb (0.2ppm) Au and 14% of all soil results were above 20ppb Au.

Cardigan Dam lies within the southern limits of the Lighthouse tenement. A total of 240 soil samples were collected over an area of approximately 400m x 400m. The gold-in-soil distribution outlines two linear zones and suggests an intersection of a northeast and an east-west structure, with the intersection point being in the north-eastern corner of the survey grid. Importantly, the gold strengthens towards the north of the strike area and extends beyond the limits of the survey.

Copperhead Project

On 10 June 2019, Rockfire announced a material average grade increase to a 1972 historical metal estimate at the Copperhead Project. This upgrade resulted from including a second round of core sampling in 1988 and significant molybdenum, both of which were not included in the original estimate.

The original drilling encountered significantly high values of molybdenum. When the molybdenum values are incorporated into the 1972 estimate, the result is a much higher average copper equivalent grade. Additionally, the copper values obtained from subsequent sampling of the drill core in 1988 by Costain Australia further increase the average grade to 0.35% Cu equivalent. Using the original tonnage and the new Cu Eq. grade of 0.35%, the amount of in-situ copper increases from 56,000 tonnes of copper to 122,500 tonnes of copper equivalent value.

The estimated tonnage only includes a small drilled portion (approximately 5%) of a large surface geochemical anomaly which is 3km x 2km in area and mineralisation remains open in all directions. All historical drill holes (5 in total) were mineralised with copper and molybdenum throughout their lengths and terminated in mineralisation.

The original 5 holes were completed by Carpentaria Exploration Company Limited (which later became M.I.M. Exploration Pty. Ltd., based at Mount Isa Mine). Each hole recorded visible chalcopyrite, molybdenite, pyrite and occasional bornite throughout their lengths, with two of these holes being 300m long. The geology and assay results indicate a potentially large copper, molybdenum and silver mineralised system.

Modelling work by Rockfire includes both the original and follow-up copper sampling of the core, as well as the molybdenum values from both programs. Rockfire used an Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) block model to determine tonnages and average grade for each block. This technique results in an average IDW grade of 0.35% Cu Eq. The London Metals Exchange USD copper and molybdenum prices on 16 May 2019 of $6,001 & $27,116 were used respectively to calculate each individual sample's copper equivalent. A top cut of 7,000 ppm copper and 1,200 ppm Mo was applied to remove the influence of outliers. The independent copper and molybdenum average grades are 0.21% and 0.03% respectively.

Native Bee Prospect, Kookaburra tenement

A review of historical drilling at the Native Bee Prospect within the Kookaburra exploration licence highlighted outstanding past drilling results. This new prospect provides Rockfire with further potential to delineate a large gold inventory, adding to the excellent potential offered by the nearby Plateau and Double Event Prospects (6 miles and 18 miles respectively), both within the adjacent Lighthouse licence.

Native Bee lies 18 miles from the operational Pajingo Gold Mine processing facility. High gold-in-rock samples up to 51.8g/t Au, a significant surface trench result of 19m @ 2.80g/t Au and promising drilling including 3m @ 5.13 g/t Au from 26m vertical depth and 16m @ 2.14 g/t Au from 35m vertical depth all suggest high potential for discovery of more gold with successful exploration.

Native Bee lies on a discrete 500m-wide magnetic high anomaly. The prospect has been primarily explored by Dalrymple Resources between 1988 - 1990. No significant exploration has occurred since that time. Dalrymple drilled 44 RAB and RC holes to a maximum vertical depth of 70m. The exploration potential at Native Bee is considered high and the Company is targeting a medium- to large-scale, near surface gold resource.

High-temperature fluid pathways have been identified at Native Bee by Rockfire's technical team. Using a statistical evaluation of historical soil sampling data, this evaluation consisted of transforming the soil elemental data into z-scores (sample assay, minus the mean, divided by the standard deviation).  The highest z-score for each given sample is then recorded. As different elements have differing temperatures of precipitation, this allows an elemental heat map to be generated. The heat map identifies previously unidentified exploration target zones.

The prospect hosts multiple gossanous hydrothermal and structural breccias, along with multiple mafic intrusions. Breccias have been mapped over a one-kilometre square area at surface. Large alteration zones have been recorded at surface and within the drill holes. The extensive alteration consists of epidote, sericite, carbonate, sulphide, clay, and silica flooding.

Other notable breccia/shear hosted systems in the Charters Towers district are the Mt Leyshon gold deposit (3.2 M oz Au), and the Mt Wright gold deposit (1.5 M oz Au). These mines are located within 30 miles from Native bee.

Copper Dome Porphyry Copper Project

As announced on 23 May 2019, the Company exercised its option to acquire the Copper Dome Porphyry Copper Project. Rockfire now owns 100% of Copper Dome.

Under its historical name of "Mt Leslie", Copper Dome is listed in the "Global Mineral Resource Assessment", published in 2010 by the US Geological Survey and adds material value to Rockfire's porphyry copper portfolio.

Copper Dome is a large-scale mineralised system only 50km from Copperhead and was discovered during regional exploration for porphyry copper deposits along the east coast of Australia during the early 1970s. The surface expression of the copper mineralisation is over 2km long and 1km wide and the prospect is vastly under-explored. Previous diamond drilling has intersected 15.24m @ 0.88 % Cu (including 4.58m @ 2.28 % Cu), 12.20m @ 0.61 % Cu (including 3.05m @ 1.24 % Cu), 24.38m @ 0.27 % Cu (including 7.4m @ 0.43% Cu) and 38m @ 0.13 % Cu. Additionally, diamond hole QML004 intersected 51.20m @ 0.20 g/t gold, providing upside from the presence of gold mineralisation.

Many intervals of visible copper mineralisation remain un-assayed for copper and gold and only sporadic gold analysis has been done, with gold peaking at 1.86 g/t Au in drilling. The mineralisation outcrops at surface, providing low-cost, near-surface exploration, resulting in lower anticipated exploration costs.

In 1972, Australian Selection Pty. Ltd. drilled three percussion drill holes and six diamond drill holes, totalling 1297m. All the drill holes were drilled vertically and all holes intersected geological/alteration features which are indicative of a large-scale porphyry deposit.

The exploration potential at Copper Dome is considered high. Brecciation and faulting is common and copper/gold mineralisation has been recorded within most of the rock units. The intrusions and alteration zones span an area which is ~2km long by ~1km wide, with the dominant alteration assemblage being quartz-sericite-pyrite. The geological model adopted for this project shows a pyrite-rich phyllic shell around the edges of a typical porphyry system.

A number of important characteristics of Copper Dome indicate the potential for the project to grow:

·      There has not been any ground/air geophysical surveys

·      No soil sampling

·      No detailed structural/alteration/geological mapping

·      There are substantial zones of visible mineralisation which have not been assayed

·      The project holds potential for a missed supergene-enriched copper zone

·      Vertical drilling may have missed copper/gold mineralisation hosted within vertical structures

·      Rockfire's modelling is the first evaluation using 3-D computer modelling and data analysis

·      The deposit outcrops at surface, providing low-cost, near-surface exploration, resulting in lower exploration costs

As part of its technical due diligence, Rockfire completed an initial phase of soil sampling at Copper Dome. The soil and rock samples collected returned rock samples up to 23.4% Cu, 3.2g/t Au, 952g/t Ag and significantly elevated copper-in-soil values up to 779 ppm Cu. Very high-grade copper, gold and silver rock samples define ridges radiating from the mapped centre of the porphyry system, with potential for high-grade, vein-hosted mineralisation, in addition to porphyry-hosted mineralisation. Elevated copper-in-soil occurs over a coherent area approximately 500m x 300m, suggesting potential for large tonnage. 

An extension soil sampling program also returned strongly anomalous results up to 0.1% Cu in the soils. This program successfully extended the copper-in-soil anomaly to the south by 500m. Gold-in-soil occurs in a confined east-west band between the two largest mapped porphyries and the anomaly remains open towards the east and west.

A total of 108 soil samples were collected over an area of approximately 850m x 600m. This extension was to test south of strongly anomalous soil samples collected by Rockfire during its initial soil sampling program. The copper appears to adhere to the margins of the mapped porphyry, whilst the gold forms an east-west trend precisely at the contact point between the two porphyries as mapped.

Papua New Guinea

A review of past drilling, geology, accessibility, geophysics and geochemistry on the Company's Papua New Guinea projects led to the relinquishment of two exploration licences at Mount Visi on 7 January 2019. One of these licences was still awaiting Ministerial approval for renewal. The Nakru licence (EL1462), was the only licence held by the Company, although this licence too was awaiting Ministerial approval for renewal.

Over the last 8 years, considerable work was completed by Rockfire at Mt. Visi, including 776 metres of diamond drilling in five holes. With best results being 71m @ 0.04% Cu, the Company considered the on-going costs of further exploration in difficult, rugged terrain to be well outside Rockfire's risk/reward profile at this stage of its growth. Given the extreme terrain, the lack of economic results and the anticipated high cost of on-going exploration, the Company decided that the two Mt. Visi licences should be relinquished.

During the interim period, a decision was made by the Minister for Mining in Papua New Guinea not to renew the Company's Nakru licence (EL1462), which has been awaiting Ministerial approval since September 2017. In reaching this conclusion, the Minister noted that the Company has held the tenement for five renewal periods (since 2012) but no resources have been identified.

Interim Results

Our Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income for the six months ended 30 June 2019 shows a loss of £307,318 compared to a loss of £285,739 in the same period last year. Administrative costs in the period amounted to £290,022 (6 months to 30 June 2018: £285,739) as a result of increased personnel, payment of accrued liabilities and administrative costs associated with on-going exploration programs.

Additionally, the Company incurred exploration expenditure of £208,738. Cash and cash equivalents at 30 June 2019 totalled £181,097 (31 December 2018: £294,596).

Board changes

The Company welcomed two further Non-Executive Directors to the Board during the period. Mr Pat Elliott and Mr Nicholas Walley were appointed in March and May 2019 respectively.

Competent Person Statement:

Information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Mr David Price, a Director of Rockfire Resources plc, who is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (FAusIMM). Mr Price has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which has been undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code) and under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr Price consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.

For further information on the Company, please visit www.rockfireresources.com or contact the following:

Rockfire Resources PLC	Email: [e-mail]
David Price, Chief Executive Officer
Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Advisor)	Tel: [phone]
John Depasquale/Asha Chotai
SI Capital (Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Nick Emerson

ROCKFIRE RESOURCES PLC

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2019

		6 months to 30 June 2019		6 months to 30 June 2018		12 months to 31 December 2018
		£		£		£
	Note	(unaudited)		(unaudited)		(audited)
Interest Income		1		-		-
Impairment		-		-		(1,437,449)
Administrative expenses		(290,022)		(285,739)		(581,378)
Loss before tax		(290,021)		(285,739)		(2,018,827)
Taxation		-		-		-
Loss attributable to equity owners		(290,021)		(285,739)		(2,018,827)
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Other comprehensive income
Exchange differences arising on translation of foreign operations		(17,297)		-		(20,296)
Total comprehensive loss attributable to equity owners		(307,318)		(285,739)		(2,039,123)
Loss per share attributable to equity owners
Basic and diluted	4	(0.01)		(0.01)		(0.01)

ROCKFIRE RESOURCES PLC

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 30 JUNE 2019

		6 months to 30 June 2019		6 months to 30 June 2018		12 months to 31 December 2018
		£		£		£
	Note	(unaudited)		(unaudited)		(audited)
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Intangible assets	5	1,650,404		1,928,582		1,441,666
Goodwill		-		602,456		-
Total non-current assets		1,650,404		2,531,039		1,441,666
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents		181,097		574,142		294,596
Trade and other receivables		41,401		-		22,676
Total current assets		222,598		574,142		317,272
Total assets		1,872,904		3,105,180		1,758,938
EQUITY
Equity attributable to owners
of the parent:
Share capital	6	6,427,835		6,339,011		6,369,011
Share premium		13,789,185		13,114,313		13,458,124
Other reserves		2,295,035		2,295,035		2,295,035
Share-based payment reserve		1,177,419		1,109,965		1,109,504
Foreign exchange reserve		(37,593)		-		(20,296)
Retained deficit		(21,928,730)		(19,905,621)		(21,638,709)
Total equity		1,723,151		2,952,703		1,572,669
LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables		149,751		152,477		186,269
Total current liabilities		149,751		152,477		186,269
Total liabilities		149,751		152,477		186,269
Total equity and liabilities		1,872,902		3,105,180		1,758,938

ROCKFIRE RESOURCES PLC

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES OF EQUITY

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2019

	Share capital	Share premium	Other reserves	Share- based payment reserve	Foreign exchange reserve	Accumulated losses	Total
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
At 1 January 2018	6,339,011	13,114,312	2,295,035	1,103,965	-	(19,619,882)	3,232,441
Loss for the period	-	-	-	-	-	(285,739)	(285,739)
At 30 June 2018	6,339,011	13,114,312	2,295,035	1,103,965	-	(19,905,621)	2,952,703
Loss for the period	-	-	-	-	-	(1,733,088)	(285,601)
Foreign exchange translation movement	-	-	-	-	(20,296)	-	(245,363)
Transactions with owners
Issue of share capital	30,000	369,461	-	-	-	-	399,461
Cost of share issue		(25,649)					(25,649)
Share-based payments	-	-	-	5,539	-	-	5,539
At 31 December 2018	6,369,011	13,458,124	2,295,035	1,109,504	(20,296)	(21,638,709)	1,572,669
Loss for the period	-	-	-	-	-	(290,021)	(290,021)
Foreign exchange translation movement	-	-	-	-	(17,297)	-	(17,297)
Transactions with owners
Issue of share capital	58,824	441,176	-	-	-	-	500,000
Costs of share issue	-	(42,200)	-	-	-	-	(42,200)
Share-based payments	-	(67,915)	-	67,915	-	-	-
At 30 June 2019	6,427,835	13,789,185	2,295,035	1,177,419	(37,593)	(21,928,730)	1,723,151

ROCKFIRE RESOURCES PLC

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2019

	6 months to 30 June 2019		6 months to 30 June 2018		12 months to 31 December 2018
	£		£		£
	(unaudited)		(unaudited)		(audited)
Cash flow from operating activities
Loss for the period	(290,021)		(285,739)		(2,018,827)
- Share-based payments	67,915		6,000		-
- Impairment of intangible assets	-		-		1,437,449
Increase in trade and other receivables	(18,727)		-		(22,676)
Decrease in trade and other payables	(36,517)		(109,306)		(75,514)
Net cash flow from operating activities	(277,350)		(389,045)		(679,568)
Cash flow from investing activities
Exploration expenditure	(208,738)		(294,008)		(642,085)
Net cash used in investing activities	(208,738)		(294,008)		(642,085)
Cash flow from financing activities
Proceeds from issuance of ordinary shares	432,085		-		405,000
Share issue costs	(42,200)		-		(25,649)
Net cash generated by financing activities	389,885		-		379,351
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(96,203)		(683,052)		(942,302)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period	294,596		1,257,194		1,257,194
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	(17,297)		-		(20,296)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period	181,096		574,142		294,596

ROCKFIRE RESOURCES PLC

NOTES TO THE CONDENSED INTERIM CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2019

1          Group and principal activities

For the purposes of these financial statements, the term "Group" is defined as the companies Rockfire Resources plc (the "Company"), BGM Investments PTY Limited, Papua Mining Limited, Aries Mining Limited and Sagittarius Mining Limited.

The Company is a public limited company, admitted to trading on AIM, and incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales.

The Group's principal activity is exploration for gold and base metals in Queensland, Australia.

2          Basis of preparation

The unaudited consolidated financial statements are for the six-month period ended 30 June 2019. They do not include all the information required for full annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2018, which were prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as adopted by the European Union ("EU").

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for share-based payments which are valued at the date of grant.

The unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting policies consistent with those set out in the Group's financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018.

The unaudited consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the Company and subsidiaries controlled by the Company as at 30 June 2019.

The financial information set out in this interim report does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 435 of the Companies Act 2006. The Group's statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. Those accounts received an unqualified audit report and did not contain statements or matters to which the auditors drew attention under the Act.

The Group's consolidated financial statements are presented in Sterling £.

3          Accounting policies

The interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies adopted in the Group's last annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018.

The impact of IFRS 16, adopted 1 January 2019, has no material effect on the Group at this stage of the Group's operations.

4          Loss per share

Basic and diluted loss per share

The calculation of basic and diluted loss per share is based on the loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of £307,318 (2018: £285,739) and a weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue of 423,983,038 (2018: 373,342,293).

5          Intangible assets

Group		30 June 2019		30 June 2018		31 December 2018
		£		£		£
Exploration costs
At 1 January		1,441,666		1,634,574		1,634,574
Additions		208,738		294,008		642,085
Reclassification of goodwill		-		-		602,456
Impairment charge		-		-		(1,437,449)
		1,650,404		1,928,582		1,441,666

The Group's subsidiary undertakings at 30 June 2019, all of which are included in the consolidation, were as follows:

	Proportion held	Class of shareholding	Nature of business	Country of incorporation
Name of company
Papua Mining Limited	100%	Ordinary	Exploration	British Virgin Islands
Aries Mining Limited	100%	Ordinary	Exploration	Papua New Guinea
Sagittarius Mining Limited	100%	Ordinary	Exploration	Papua New Guinea
BGM Investments PTY Limited	100%	Ordinary	Exploration	Australia

6     Share capital

		30 June 2019		30 June 2018		31 December 2018
Group		Number		Number		Number
Issued share capital
Ordinary shares of £0.001 each		435,886,277		343,342,293		343,342,293
Deferred shares of £0.099 each		51,215,534		51,215,534		51,215,534
		30 June 2019		30 June 2018		31 December 2018
Issued share capital		£		£		£
Fully paid		6,427,835		6,339,011		6,369,011
		6,427,835		6,339,011		6,369,011

Fully paid ordinary shares carry one vote per share and carry the right to dividends. There are no shares held by the Company or its subsidiaries.

58,823,530 ordinary shares of £0.001 each were issued at £0.085 per share on 28 January 2019 to fund activities going forward. In addition, 58,823,530 warrants to subscribe for ordinary shares of £0.001 each were granted at a price of £0.015. This was subject to an accelerated exercise position should the share price exceed £0.045 per share for ten consecutive trading days.

In May 2019, the Company exercised an option to acquire the Copper Dome Porphyry Copper Deposit in Queensland, Australia. The commencement of Option Period was announced to the market on 26 November 2018. As part of the consideration, the Company issued 3,720,454 Ordinary Shares at an issue price of £0.00731.

 

END

 

 

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