Rome Resources Plc (AIM:RMR, FRA:33R) this week outlined strong new drilling results from its Kalayi tin project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with CEO Paul Barrett highlighting increasing intercept widths and improved hit rates beneath the maiden resource.
Speaking to Proactive, Barrett said recent drilling had returned multiple multimetre intervals grading around 3% tin and up to 7.5% tin. He noted that historically only two intercepts exceeded two metres at grades above 2% tin, whereas five of the last seven holes have achieved that benchmark. Barrett said the company was “increasing the hit rate” and “certainly increasing the widths of the intercept as we go,” with greater widths and strong cassiterite mineralisation evident in the latest results.
Here, we look back at Barratt's interview more closely.
Proactive: Paul very good to speak with you, you're hitting multimeter intervals, grading about 3% even 7.5% tin. How significant is that beneath the maiden resource?
Paul Barrett: Stephen, yes, good to see you. Very significant really. I think if you put it into the context of the fact that all the previous drilling that we’ve had on Kalayi, there were only two intercepts of greater than two meters width, with 2% or more tin. But actually in these past seven holes we've had five holes which have had those. So we are increasing the hit rate, as it were, and we're certainly increasing the widths of the intercept as we go. It's not an empirical relationship between depth and width of the intercepts, they come and go. But in general terms we are seeing greater widths, and with really good cassiterite numbers within them.
Proactive: Kalayi sits just eight kilometres from Alphamin’s Mpama mine. How close do you think the geological comparison really is?
Paul Barrett: It's very similar. I was looking at one of the academic papers put out by workers on the Alphamin deposit. It is very, very similar in terms of the style of the cassiterite and the veins. We see the main vein in Mpama North anything between 2 and 20 metres wide with about 3–3.5% tin. So we're seeing very similar numbers in these latest Kalayi holes.
Proactive: These are XRF results for now, what should investors watch for when the full lab assays come in?
Paul Barrett: It's very important to point that out. We are looking at XRF. Historically, they’ve been within 10–15% of the true value. They are averages over a metre and only one side of the core, so they are not 100% accurate. But they give a really good indication. Even if we had 10 or 15% off, we're still looking at some very good numbers.
Proactive: With tin around current levels, how does today's price environment shape your strategy and potential development plans?
Paul Barrett: I don't think it has an immediate effect. The business model for Kalayi being pure tin is to end up going through the Alphamin facility at Bisie. That will probably happen within a few years. We don’t know what the price is going to be now. The more important thing is to notice the longer term demand growth and supply squeeze for tin. I can't see it dropping much further. The longer term demand is there and there is a supply gap in the next few years. So it doesn’t immediately affect decision making, but it certainly looks good.
Proactive: You've just come back from Mining Indaba in Cape Town. How was the event?
Paul Barrett: It was very optimistic, particularly in critical minerals and precious metals. It was also interesting from a geography perspective. The DRC is starting to look like a much more interesting place for investment. A couple of large deals have recently taken place in the DRC, and I think smaller deals will follow, especially with US support for DRC mining. That should bring more activity and business confidence in the country.
Proactive: Thank you very much for speaking with us today.