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Rox Resources embarks on new era in gold

Last updated: 23:30 16 Jul 2019 BST, First published: 09:30 16 Jul 2019 BST

Snapshot

West Australian company Rox has a new managing director and a firm commitment to gold.

Gold symbol, Au
  • The company has embarked on a new era focused on gold after appointing resources director Alex Passmore as its CEO and managing director

  • Passmore drew on his extensive resources industry network to help acquire the company’s new flagship project in Western Australia last month, Youanmi

  • Youanmi Gold Project is housed in four jointly-held ventures with Venus Metals Corporation

  • Rox can take its stake in the Youanmi mine venture to 70% with $2 million in exploration spending and a further $3 million in investment funds

What does Rox Resources do?

Rox Resources Limited (ASX:RXL) (FRA: RR3) is a gold and nickel explorer focused on its home state of Western Australia. It is led by managing director Alex Passmore, a trained geologist and equities director with more than 17 years experience dealing with the various resources industries.

Passmore joined Rox as CEO in February 2019, taking up the managing director role in May 2019 after he played an instrumental role in negotiating the acquisition of the company’s now flagship gold project Youanmi.

The executive has been a director of Western Australian company Horizon Advisors Pty Ltd for the past three years. The Subiaco-based consultancy is a corporate advisor and capital structuring and funding origination company.

Passmore is a former Commonwealth Bank natural resources director who was previously a finance and research director at Patersons Securities.

What is Rox’s flagship project?

The key asset is the Youanmi Gold Project in Western Australia, a staged acquisition housed in four joint ventures with Venus Metals Corporation Limited (ASX:VMC).

Rox’s Youanmi project was acquired in June 2019, is 480 kilometres northeast of Perth and hosts a 1.19 million-ounce JORC-compliant resource grading 2.97 g/t gold.

The resource estimate for near-surface deposits at Youanmi mine is 10.07 million tonnes grading 1.65 g/t for 532,700 contained ounces while the Youanmi Deeps estimate is 2.413 million tonnes grading 8.5 g/t for 657,900 ounces.

Rox and its joint venture partner Venus each housed their 50% stakes in Youanmi in the OYG Joint Venture.

The partners have three other joint ventures for the project and which have regional aspects - the Venus Joint Venture, Youanmi Joint Venture, and Currans Find & Pincher Joint Venture.

New Youanmi minesite manager Rox sees the gold project as an important addition to its portfolio that can provide “advanced exploration and early stage development projects to its current asset base”.

The OYG Joint Venture partner hopes to target oxide gold mineralisation to build the current gold in resource inventory from 12.4 million tonnes at 2.97g/t gold for 1,190,600 ounces of gold.

Rox will also focus on drilling at Youanmi project’s three regional joint ventures.

New partners Rox and Venus have already had early successes from their joint efforts, reporting last month their first set of drill results from Currans Find.

Drilling from this prospect, a granted mining lease that historically produced 13 g/t gold, returned boons such as 6 metres at 9.82 g/t from 36 metres and 4 metres at 5.72 g/t from 60 metres.

Red White and Blue Workings results included 1-metre at 10.79 g/t from 25 metres and 4 metres at 4.81 g/t from 36 metres.

Follow-up drilling is planned to test down-plunge targets.

If Rox spends $2 million on exploration at its OYG venture tenements, it can take a stake of up 70% in the primary JV for an extra $3 million.

What are Rox’s other projects?

The West Perth company also has the inland Mt Fisher Gold Project and the Fisher East and Collurabbie nickel projects in WA.

The 570 square kilometre Mt Fisher project is north of Leinster and Kalgoorlie and has 1 million tonnes grading 2.7 g/t for 89,000 ounces at the Damsel, Mt Fisher and Moray Reef deposits.

Rox started an 8,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) and aircore drilling program at Mt Fisher project last month, tipping it would run for five weeks.

The first phase of drilling from the wholly-owned project is now complete, with the company reporting yesterday nine reverse circulation (RC) holes had been drilled for 2,751 metres to return encouraging gold results from Dirks and Damsel South prospects.

Feature results from Dirks prospect included 8 metres grading 1.86 g/t gold from 92 metres.

A thick zone of shallow gold mineralisation was seen at the western edge of the Dam prospect, with results including 4 metres grading 1.56 g/t from 36 metres; 4 metres at 2.93 g/t from 52 metres; and 16 metres at 1.74 g/t from 56 metres.

Dam prospect mineralisation is open to the west and south and is seen to 60-metre depths from surface while still remaining open.

Rox’s scoped out Fisher East Nickel Project features 4.1 million tonnes grading 1.9% nickel for 78,000 contained tonnes, making it suitable for development during improved nickel market sentiment.

The company’s 168 square kilometre Collurabbie Nickel-Copper-PGE-Gold Project in WA’s Northern Goldfields hosts the 573,000-tonne Olympia nickel sulphide deposit grading 1.63% nickel, 1.19% copper, 0.082% cobalt, 1.49 g/t palladium, and 0.85 g/t platinum.

What is Rox’s capital backing?

Rox was backed with about $8 million in cash and $3.75 million in receivables in March 2019.

The company’s June quarter results are expected this month and will reflect the $2.8 million cash Rox paid Venus for a 50% stake in the OYG tenements.

Venus also took a stake in Rox as part of the transaction.

Inflection points

  • Shallow and deep mineral resource estimate updates for Youanmi and its surrounds
  • Significant transactions for the company, including financing milestones
  • Feasibility studies, in addition to further drilling campaigns
  • Stepped up stakes in Youanmi JV projects
  • Gold, nickel and PGE sector sentiments

Rox embarks on “new era”

“The appointment of Alex as managing director heralds the beginning of a new era for Rox and I am certain we have an exciting time ahead of us," Rox chairman Stephen Dennis said in May.

“Under Alex’s stewardship we have already taken a significant step with the acquisition at Youanmi and we are able to look to the future with confidence.”

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