GCIRockfire reports excellent grades of Zn and Pb at Molaoi
( ), a gold and base metal exploration company, announced today unaudited interim results for the 6 months ended 30 June 2022. The company presented highlights from its three assets, the Molaoi Zinc-Lead-Silver-Germanium Deposit in Greece, and the Plateau and Copperhead deposits in Queensland, Australia.
Rockfire focused its exploration activities during the period on its battery metal and critical metal Molaoi zinc-lead-silver-germanium deposit in Greece, as zinc prices have materially increased during the energy crisis.
The company's loss narrowed to £302.5K in 1H22, a reduction of £123.5K from 1H21. Rockfire said the main reason for the reduction was that the prior period included a share-based payment expense of £116K. The company's total asset worth increased to £5m from £4.4m a year ago.
Molaoi Deposit, Greece
Rockfire acquired the Molaoi deposit in Greece in March 2022. Some outstanding results from historical drilling at Malaoi include 26.51% Zn, 1.87% Pb, & 80 g/t Ag (BG013); 19.17% Zn, 2.89% Pb, & 76 g/t Ag(B010), and 18.06 % Zn, 2.87% Pb, & 91 g/t Ag (B011). The total spread ranged from 0.9% Zn to 36.75% Zn.
On 23 May 2022, Rockfire delivered a maiden JORC mineral resource for Molaoi of 2.3 million tonnes @ 11 % ZnEq. for 250,000 tonnes of ZnEq. Molaoi currently contains 210,000 tonnes of zinc, 39,000 tonnes of lead, and 3.5 million ounces of silver
On 10 May 2022, Rockfire announced the discovery of critical metal germanium at Molaoi during re-analysis of the historical diamond drill core. The company reported the weighted average grade of 51 samples collected during the re-analysis was 51 grams per tonne (g/t) Ge, with a peak value of 197 g/t Ge.
Germanium currently sells for US$1.3m per tonne which, if commercially recoverable in concentrate from Molaoi, would add material value to the overall financial metrics of the Molaoi deposit.
Plateau Deposit, Australia
The soil sampling at Plateau conducted in June 2022 returned a large gold anomaly, extending for over 200 m. The anomaly is located on the margin of the breccia/rhyolite intrusion complex and returned very high gold values, with a maximum value of 0.67 g/t Au.
In August 2022, Rockfire announced results of rock samples collected in areas of geophysical and geochemical anomalism. 17 rock samples collected in June outlined two new exploration targets, with results including 10.7 g/t Au, 3.2 g/t Au and 2.3 g/t Au. 29% of the samples returned results above 0.5 g/t Au, with more than 80% of results being above 0.1 g/t Au.
Copperhead Deposit, Australia
Rockfire's maiden drilling program at Copperhead returned results of 370 m @ 0.20 % CuEq. from 57 m from hole BCH003, with copper veins observed throughout the entire 429 m long drill hole. Within this broad zone, a higher-grade interval of 50 m @ 0.35 % CuEq. occurs from 259 m downhole depth, and a more intensely veined interval of 22 m @ 0.41 % CuEq. has been intersected from 271 m downhole depth, the company reported.
Copper mineralisation has been significantly expanded 100 m directly east of hole BCH001 and 200 m north of hole BCH002, resulting in another significant increase in the footprint of the drilled copper-bearing area.
In March 2022, Rockfire announced a maiden JORC mineral resource for Copperhead of 64 million tonnes @ 0.19 % Cu EQ for 120,000 tonnes of Cu Eq. in the inferred category. The resource contains 80 Kt of Cu (@ 0.12%), 9.4 Kt of Mo (@0.015 %), and 1.1 Moz Ag (@0.55 g/t Ag).
Rockfire said Copperhead's mineral resource remains open to the north, east, west and at depth, leaving scope for significant further resource increases.
Molaoi Deposit post-period end
In August, Rockfire announced that metallurgical test work on the Molaoi historical core returned recoveries of zinc (89% Zn) and lead (74% Pb). Additionally, commercially saleable grades of zinc (57% Zn), silver (856 g/t Ag), lead (63.6% Pb), germanium (117 g/t Ge), copper (2.62% Cu) and gold (0.52 g/t Au) are readily returned.
Rockfire's consultants, BHM Process Consultants, reported the performance of the zinc system as "excellent" with a product grade of 57% Zn concentrate achieved in a single pass. This is well above the desired product grade of 50% Zn contained for a saleable concentrate, the company reported.
First-pass metallurgical recovery of lead is 74%, expected to increase with more detailed test work. The lead circuit recovery is at 63.6% Pb concentrate achieved in a single pass. This also far exceeds the market requirement of 40%-50% Pb contained for a saleable concentrate. Rockfire said.
Copper and gold both reported to the lead concentrate with grades of 2.62% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au. Historical copper mines exist in the northern part of the Molaoi tenement, suggesting copper and gold is likely to add material value to future concentrates.
The metallurgical test-work company believes these recovery figures may be conservative, as there is much metallurgical development and many optimisation tests still to occur on the project.
Summary
Overall, in 1H22 Rockfire continued to focus on attaining value growth through exploration success. Molaoi is shaping up to be a major win for the company as Zn prices continue to rise and demand for critical metals increases. Malaoi shows far higher than economical concentrations of Zn and Pb, with the potential of Ge, Cu, and Au to add significant value to the asset in the future.
Results from Plateau and Copperhead are promising as well. Copperhead's resource remaining open in the north, east, west and at depth leaves scope for significant further resource increases at the site.
shares were up 5.19% on today's update.
Follow News & Updates from Rockfire Resources:
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest
The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.