Red Rock Resources plc has started a drill programme at the Luanshimba copper-cobalt project in the Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The company’s 80% owned Congolese subsidiary Red Rock Galaxy SA is the operator.
The programme, which will be the first step towards delineating a resource, comprises an initial 2,000m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling in 20 or more holes of 60m to 100m, and may be extended.
Samples will be sent for copper and cobalt assay to South Africa.
Rubaco SARL began drilling on June 27 with geological support from Minerals Exploration Associates SARL (Minex Consulting SARL).
LUANSHIMBA
The Luanshimba project lies 65km southeast of the provincial capital of Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga, in a 420ha prospecting licence (PR13513) in the Congolese copper belt.
Red Rock chairman Andrew Bell said that the DRC was an improving but still difficult country and the company had to overcome many obstacles during its first years.
He added the country was still the best place to find vital commodities.
“We are optimistic of the potential of this site and given the exploration results to date we have designed the initial programme to test for a shallow depth mineralised zone.
“Some of the IP results are suggestive of a system that extends to greater depths, which may require additional testing in a follow-up programme.
“We are in the right area and the right geological setting, and have followed a disciplined exploration approach which has given increasingly positive indications. Drilling however is the ultimate test.
“This is the first project in the DRC which we have taken from a greenfields prospect to drilling, our first opportunity to work with these drillers, and the first test of our exploration approach to the copper belt.”