Germanium and Gallium confirmed at Molaoi

Rockfire Resources PLC

23 August 2023

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information pursuant to Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 as amended.

23 August 2023

Rockfire Resources plc

("Rockfire" or the "Company")

Germanium and Gallium confirmed at Molaoi

Rockfire Resources plc (LON: ROCK), the base metal, gold, and critical mineral exploration company, is pleased to announce that the Company has confirmed the presence of high-grade germanium and elevated gallium in recent drill core from its 100%-owned Molaoi zinc deposit in Greece, through the reanalysis of all Rockfire core.

Germanium grades between 9.0 and 40.0 g/t have been recorded with an average from 7 holes of 23.7 g/t Ge over average downhole intersection of 4.6 metres, with the highest individual germanium assay being 73.8g/t Ge in hole MO_GTK_003A.

Gallium grades between 9.7 and 19.0 g/t have been intersected with an average of 15.3 g/t Ga over the average downhole intersection of 4.6 metres, with the highest individual gallium assay being 33.3g/t Ga in hole MO_GTK_003A.

These high Ge and Ga grades are expected to add significant further value to the Molaoi project economics

Highlights

·    Germanium and gallium add significant value, with an average of 39% uplift in the Zinc-equivalent grade of the Molaoi core.

·    The germanium price is currently US$ 2.75m (GBP£ 2.16m) per tonne.

·    Germanium and gallium are both included on the US and EU lists of critical minerals, owing to geological scarcity. Gallium is included on the UK list of critical minerals.

·    China has recently announced restrictions on the export supplies of both gallium and germanium products, citing national security reasons.

·    Rockfire's initial analysis for germanium in holes MO_GTK_001 through to hole MO_GTK_007 failed to detect any germanium. The Company thought this was highly irregular, given that germanium has been identified in historical drill core.

·    Our technical team decided to reanalyse the core for germanium using a different analytical method. Instead of using a 4-acid digest, the laboratory was instructed to use lithium borate fusion. This technique has successfully detected germanium associated with the high-grade zinc.

·    Drill hole MO_GTK_001 includes an interval of 7.18m @ 23.2g/t Ge and 9.7g/t Ga.

·    Drill hole MO_GTK_002 includes an interval of 2.4m @ 35.6g/t Ge and 10.7g/t Ga.

·    Drill hole MO_GTK_003A includes an interval of 11.3m @ 29.3g/t Ge and 17.3g/t Ga.

·    Drill hole MO_GTK_004 includes an interval of 2.4m @ 9.0g/t Ge and 17.4g/t Ga.

·    Drill hole MO_GTK_005 includes an interval of 3.5m @ 17.6g/t Ge and 17.23g/t Ga.

·    Drill hole MO_GTK_006 includes an interval of 3.3m @ 40.0g/t Ge and 19.0g/t Ga.

·    Drill hole MO_GTK_007 includes an interval of 1.95m @ 11.5g/t Ge and 13.6g/t Ga.

Table showing the original zinc equivalent values reported in previous announcement made by the Company, along with the revised zinc equivalent values as a result of adding germanium and gallium.

The zinc equivalent grades are calculated using metal prices on 21^st August 2023. The multiplier for each element is as follows: Silver (317.33), Gallium (96.57), Germanium (1,193.63) and Lead (0.93).

David Price, Chief Executive Officer of Rockfire, commented:

" In May 2022, Rockfire analysed the historical core drilled by the Greek Government. This analysis returned high-grade germanium, yet germanium was not being detected in any of our recent core samples from our 2023 drilling.

"Our initial analysis for germanium involved a 4-acid digest of the sample, followed by an Inductively Coupled Plasma ("ICP") measurement. Our geologists elected to try an alternative analytical method which uses a lithium borate fusion, and an ICP-Mass Spectrometry measurement to read the final analysis. Lithium borate fusion provides full decomposition of the sample, including the most resistant minerals.

"The results are extremely pleasing and many of the samples which initially recorded values close to the lower level of detection returned strongly elevated germanium. The detection of gallium is a bonus and is expected to add further value to the Molaoi project economics.

For further information on the Company, please visit  or contact the following: 

Rockfire Resources plc:	[e-mail]
David Price, Chief Executive Officer
Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker):	Tel: [phone]
John Depasquale / George Payne (Corporate Finance)
Matt Butlin / Kelly Gardner (Sales and Corporate Broking)

Qualified Person Statement

The technical information in this announcement is based on information compiled by Mr David Price, the Chief Executive Officer 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 "Qualified Person" in accordance with the AIM Rules Guidance 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.

Notes to Editors

Rockfire Resources plc (LON: ROCK) is a gold, base metal and critical mineral exploration company, with a high-grade zinc/lead/silver/germanium deposit in Greece and a portfolio of gold/copper/silver projects in Queensland Australia.

§ The Molaoi deposit in Greece has a JORC resource of 210,000 tonnes of zinc, 39,000 tonnes of lead and 3.5 million ounces of silver, using a 4% Zn cut off.

§ The Plateau deposit in Queensland has a JORC resource of 131,000 ounces of gold and 800,000 ounces of silver, using a 0.5g/t Au cut off. 53,000 of these ounces lie within the top 100m from surface.

§ The Copperhead deposit in Queensland has a JORC resource of 80,000 tonnes of copper, 9,400 tonnes of molybdenum and 1.1 million ounces of silver, using a 0.13% CuEq. cut off.

 

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