Exceptionally high-grade gold drilling results are reinforcing the robustness of Rimfire Pacific Mining’s (ASX:RIM) Sorpresa project in New South Wales as new investor support adds confidence to ongoing exploration and longer-term mine development plans.
The latest assays from Sorpresa’s Trench 31 area have recorded 9 metres at 18.15 g/t gold and 100 g/t silver from 18 metres.
This hole also returned 1 metre at 448 g/t silver, the highest assay for silver at Trench 31 to date.
These results represent the third-best hole ever drilled at the site, only 50 metres from another hole which returned 14 metres at 21.9 g/t gold and 6 metres at 94 g/t silver from 34 metres in 2012.
Other new assays marked 1 metre at 69 g/t gold, 1 metre at 38.6 g/t gold and 2 metres at 14.85 g/t gold.
The exploration assists both delineation and extension discovery strategies for Sorpresa, including projections into previously undrilled areas outside the existing resource boundary.
The strategy is to focus on increasing the gold resource that is suited to shallow open-cut mining. Mineralisation remains open in multiple directions.
This progress has coincided with a capital raising of just over A$1 million expected to support ongoing exploration work in the coming year.
The funds came via a rights issue at A$0.02 per share, including strong support from Rimfire directors.
Rimfire received about $1 million in early November as a result of an R&D program and recently completed the Cooperative Drilling Program supported by $175,000 from the NSW government.
Analysis
The frequency of the higher grade results at Sorpresa, including results above 30 g/t gold in numerous places, enhances the commercial assessment for potential prioritised development at the site.
The knowledge being gained also adds to the Rimfire’s capacity to seek further upside within the current Sorpresa resource for gold and silver whilst looking to turn the current resource into a profitable mining operation.
In the context of the existing difficult global market conditions, the A$1 million raised via the rights issue has reflected an extremely successful capital raising effort that reinforces the strong support demonstrated at Rimfire’s recent AGM, where the board, management and strategy were conclusively endorsed by an overwhelming number of shareholders
Potential price catalysts for Rimfire stock in this context include the well-funded exploration work expected to continue at Sorpresa as well as newsflow related to an application to take control of a further 290 square kilometres of exploration licences area to the east of the company’s current tenements.