Germanium Export Ban by China

Rockfire Resources PLC

04 December 2024

 

4 December 2024

Rockfire Resources plc

("Rockfire" or the "Company")

Germanium Export Ban  

·    Major supply chain pressure envisaged, following Chinese Export ban

·    Rockfire potentially hosts substantial amounts of Germanium at its Flagship asset, Molai, Greece

Rockfire Resources plc (LON: ROCK), the base metal, precious metal, and critical mineral exploration company, wishes to inform the market that on 3^rd December 2024, China officially banned all exports of the geologically rare mineral, Germanium to the United States of America. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-bans-exports-gallium-germanium-antimony-us-2024-12-03/

This could have highly significant positive consequences for the Company's 100%-owned Molaoi zinc project in Greece, which hosts germanium as a potentially valuable by-product from any future production.

Germanium is listed on both the US and the EU critical mineral lists. Rockfire has 1.09 million tonnes of zinc, 260,000 tonnes of lead, 19.1 million ounces of silver and germanium as a by-product at Molaoi. An internal, non-code-compliant assessment of germanium by-product is approximately 4.8 million tonnes, with an expected average grade of 21.9g/t Ge. Metallurgical tests demonstrate that grades of 117g/t Ge report to a zinc concentrate (Further details can be found in Rockfire's resource upgrade in the RNS dated 4^th September 2024).

The Company's assessment of germanium content is not compliant yet with reporting codes, as more sampling is required to establish a critical mass of data points. Core drilled at Molaoi before the year 2021 was not analysed for germanium and therefore cannot be included in our current resource estimates. Germanium is expected to feed into future resource upgrades.

Germanium is incorporated into the glass components of important military applications, including long range weapons sighting scopes, infrared heat-seeking missile guidance systems and infrared night vision goggles.

Germanium also contributes to electronic computer/phone chips which are smaller in size, produce less electronic noise and are more stable over a wider range of temperatures and ultra-high frequencies.

Molaoi is a developing project to help Europe meet its ambitions for a domestic supply of critical raw materials, including the geologically rare mineral, germanium.

David Price, Chief Executive Officer of Rockfire, commented:

"This is huge news for Rockfire and the Molaoi project in Greece. With the banning of exports of germanium from China, this is likely to put drastic pressure on supply chains globally. Up until a few days ago, China supplied more than 60% of the world's germanium raw product. This ban may well impact prices, potentially increasing the price of germanium well beyond its current price of US$ 4,073/kg (US$ 4.06 million/tonne)."

For further information on the Company, please visit www.rockfireresources.com 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)
Guy McDougall / Kelly Gardiner (Sales and Corporate Broking)

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 Inferred Mineral Resource of 15 million tonnes @ 7.26 % Zn, 1.75 % Pb and 39.5 g/t Ag, for 1.09 million tonnes of zinc, 260,000 tonnes of lead and 19.1 million ounces of silver.

The Plateau deposit in Queensland has a JORC Inferred resource of 131,000 ounces of gold and 800,000 ounces of silver. Plateau is subject to a joint venture with ASX-listed Sunshine Metals Ltd (ASX:SHN).

The Copperhead porphyry 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.

Glossary

Item	Definition
'' Ag''	silver
''Ga''	gallium
'' Ge''	germanium
'' g/t''	grams per tonne
''JORC''	Joint Ore Resource Committee
'' Pb''	lead
"Ppm"	parts per million
''' Zn''	zinc
"ZnEq''	zinc equivalent

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 (F.AusIMM). 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.

 

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