Rockfire Resources PLC (LSE:ROCK), the critical minerals explorer, is pushing its Molaoi zinc and germanium project in Greece towards pre-feasibility stage after a year of significant operational progress, with the price of germanium more than doubling over the past 12 months to $8,597.50 per kilogram.
The company has commissioned two long lead-time components of its pre-feasibility study, a hydrology study and an ecological study, both of which require a minimum of 12 months of baseline monitoring before results can be used to advance towards a mining application.
Drilling at Molaoi during the year produced mixed results. Two holes, HMO-008 and HMO-009, were hampered by difficult ground conditions and failed to reach target depths, with the rig to return later to redrill.
The third hole, HMO-010, intersected multiple high-grade zinc and germanium lodes, including a headline interval of 4.0 metres at 5.1% zinc, 23 grams per tonne silver and 15 grams per tonne germanium from 256.50 metres depth.
Leading global mining consultancy SLR Group was engaged during the year to assess the reasonable prospects for economic extraction at Molaoi and to develop plans for detailed metallurgical testing, including the extraction of germanium as a by-product of the zinc concentrate.
Rockfire also completed a three-dimensional geological model of the project, identifying more than half a dozen favourable exploration targets along a five-kilometre strike yet to be drilled, raising the prospect of significant resource growth beyond the existing deposit.
The company's JORC resource was converted to the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources, making Molaoi one of the first projects in Europe to report under the new code, a step the company believes supports its application for European Union strategic minerals status.
Steven Hunt, chair of the Australasian Joint Ore Resources Committee and a former senior figure at Rio Tinto, joined the board during the year to support the transition towards feasibility.
The company raised £5 million across two placings during the year and reported a loss of £1.3 million for the financial year ended 31 December.