Red Rock Resources (RRR) , an Africa and Australia-focused gold and base metals explorer, issued a further update on its gold operations at Bilbale in Burkina Faso.
On January 23, Red Rock announced contract renewals for its gold assets in Burkina Faso and commencement of geochemical testing and mapping of key zones at Bilbale. Red Rock said its development team would travel to Bilbale in February to prep semi-mechanised mining of alluvial areas and follow-up drilling of hard rock targets. RRR also announced rock chip results from mapped areas of the site, including 14.7 g/t and 11.2 g/t Au.
Further to that announcement, Red Rock today said it will visit its Hong Kong-based partner Riverstone Resources on site at Bilbale in the first week of March instead, as another due diligence trip involving key team members had to be conducted on short notice.
Red Rock's team will include geologists and engineers from India and Africa with experience in Burkina Faso as well as local staff. Initial work will consist of locating and setting up areas for initial trials, trenching, and drilling of 2 bore holes. Additional tasks will involve civil works, fuel storage, laboratory, furnace, and security.
In parallel, Riverstone will deliver machinery and equipment needed for exploration, to be imported by air and sea with a transport time of 6-8 weeks. The equipment should arrive at a prepared site ready to start alluvial exploration operations.
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Red Rock's gold project at Bilbale is moving along, with an upcoming trip alongside partner Riverstone to carry out initial works at the site. Red Rock and Riverstone plan to implement a test programme processing alluvial material from different parts of the license, on a scale sufficient to establish high Au grade zones. Earlier in January, RRR announced promising rock chip results from Bilbale, including 14.7 g/t and 11.2 g/t Au.
Red Rock will operate initially on a trial basis, but expects to initiate the process of permitting for bulk production and processing. Initial activities will be those permitted by the exploration license. Over the implementation period, the 2 companies will discuss the terms of future cooperation, taking into account results of the phase of work now beginning. The license remains owned by Red Rock subsidiary Faso Greenstone Resources SARL.
Riverstone is a reliable partner with extensive experience of gold production and gold project implementation in Africa. The alluvial project has the potential to scale rapidly into cashflow, which is likely to be confirmed within the initial phase of exploration. Red Rock's commitment for this phase will be £150-200k, which should be met within existing resources and facilities.
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