Rome Resources gets set to re-start operations at the Bisie North tin project
Rome Resources () will re-start drilling at its Bisie North tin project in the Democratic Republic of Congo within the next few days.
Operations had been temporarily shut down due to a deterioration in the local security situation.
However, the M23 rebel group has now withdrawn from the region.
Operations at other projects in close proximity to Rome, including Alphamin’s nearby producing mines at Bisie, are now restarting.
The objective of the fully funded, additional drilling programme that Rome is about to re-start is to identify high grade tin at deeper levels of Bisie North.
As part of its preparation to commence drilling, Rome is obtaining the required permitting to mobilise the helicopter under contract with the South African fleet provider, BAC Helicopters, from Entebbe in Uganda to Kisangani.
The plan is for the helicopter to be on site by 1 May 2025.
The temporary pause in drilling operations has allowed Rome's drilling contractors time to prepare for the next phase of deeper drilling. This will commence shortly after all personnel have mobilised back to site.
The estimated cost of the next phase of drilling is approximately US$1.6 million, comfortably within Rome’s current cash reserves of approximately US$2.7 million.
In addition, Rome is expecting results from two previously drill holes shortly.
Rome intends to incorporate the results into maiden inferred mineral resource estimates for the Mont Agoma and Kalayi prospects. It’s now likely that these estimates will be released on or around mid-to-late May 2025.
"We are extremely pleased to note the news in recent weeks of the withdrawal of M23 rebels in the region and to now be preparing to mobilise and recommence operations at the Bisie North project, with the upcoming drilling intended to extend exploration at further depth, where the geological model predicts higher grades of tin,” said Paul Barrett, chief executive of Rome Resources.
“The pause in drilling operations has allowed our drilling contractors to source all drill rig spare parts and rods and adequately prepare for the next stage of operations, which we aim to kick off as soon as the team are back on site. We look forward to updating the market in the coming weeks with the drilling results from previous holes MADD024 and MADD026, which will provide further details on the size and prospectivity of the resource."
View from Vox
This is welcome news from one of the few London-listed companies that’s really thrown itself into exploration over the past year or so. Thus far, results from Bisie North have been extremely encouraging, and it will be interesting to see how it all fits together in the upcoming resource. The shares jumped by nearly 20% in early trading, although some of those gains were given back fairly quickly. A steady flow of further drill results could keep that upward momentum going.
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