Royal Road Minerals Ltd (TSX-V:RYR, OTC:RRDMF) earlier this week announced that it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) giving it the option to acquire 100% of the Lalla Aziza mining license in Morocco, which includes an underground copper mine.
CEO Tim Coughlin joined Proactive to discuss the update. He highlighted the significance of the project, located on a four-kilometer section of a larger shear zone.
Proactive: You've announced that you're acquiring an option to acquire the Lalla Aziza, a mining license in Morocco. Tell us more about the deal and what you're going to be acquiring.
Tim Coughlin: Yes. So, what we're acquiring is an operating copper mine project that's being developed on a small section of a shear zone that extends across the entire extent of the license. So it's around about four kilometers long from within the mining license boundaries.
What’s particularly interesting about this project?
The reason we're particularly interested in this project and that structure is that we do know that it extends for a lot longer than that. So this is an area where the potential strike extent looks a lot longer. This is an area that we've been interested in for a while. In Morocco, we ran some numbers on the project ourselves internally, and looking at its potential, we see there's plenty of standalone potential, which is obviously what you need. Then also the exploration upside is promising.
What are the next steps?
In terms of the program, we've got 120 days from now basically to get started with some geochemistry and mapping. We've got access to three levels underground, so we'll be sampling there and mapping out the extent of the four kilometers we have within the license, and then we'll be looking to see where it extends outside of that license area.
You mentioned there's already a mining license in place. Does that allow you to advance quickly?
Yes, it does. The drilling permits are already in place, so drilling underground development happens every day. It helps us avoid the typical resistance with permits that we see, especially on greenfield sites like this one. We're already beyond that in this project, which I think is a significantly unique aspect of it.
You've signed a letter of intent. Can you take us through the mechanics of that?
Sure, the mechanics are that it’s a binding letter of intent (LOI), which is a little bit unusual. Most of the time, LOIs are legally weaker, but this one is binding and lays out the basic terms which must be followed in form and function and will form part of the definitive agreement. The LOI is designed for us to get on the ground, conduct sampling, and get comfortable with the project. Then, after that point, we move to a definitive agreement stage. If we decide to move ahead, we commit to drilling, pay our partners Carbomine $200,000, and begin a minimum 2,000-meter drilling program. At that point, we’ll decide whether we want to apply after the drilling.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style