Rockfire Resources PLC (LON:ROCK) has decided to relinquish two exploration licences at the Mount Visi site in Papua New Guinea following a review of past data.
The resource company said following a review of past drilling, geology, accessibility, geophysics and geochemistry, it would relinquish the licences to focus on its assets in Queensland, in line with its strategy.
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However, the group added that it would retain its other licence in the country, Nakru, which is currently awaiting renewal from authorities in Papua New Guinea.
David Price, chief executive of Rockfire, said “considerable work” had been done at Mt Visi over the years, including 776 metres of diamond drilling in five holes.
However, Price said with the best results being 71m at 0.04% Cu, the company considered the on-going costs of further exploration in the “difficult” terrain to be “well outside Rockfire's risk/reward profile at this stage of its growth”.
“Having drilled 5 diamond holes and considering the associated considerable expense, the Directors believe that results of this magnitude do not warrant additional expenditure. Given the extreme terrain, the lack of economic results and the anticipated high cost of on-going exploration, the Rockfire Directors have decided that the two Mt. Visi licences should be relinquished with immediate effect,” the company said.
The decision follows news in December that the company had identified “outstanding past drilling results” at its Kookaburra exploration licence in Queensland following a review of historical drilling at the Native Bee prospect.
In lunchtime trading Monday, Rockfire shares were down 2.5% at 0.95p.