Categories: Base Metals / Precious Metals
Topics: General Base Metals / General Precious Metals

Rockridge Resources (TSX-V: ROCK) CEO Grant Ewing on Successful First Drill Program at the Raney Gold Project in Timmins, Ontario

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the CEO of Rockridge Resources (TSX-V: ROCK)(OTC: RRRLF), Mr. Grant Ewing. Grant, how are you this afternoon?

Grant Ewing: I'm doing very good, thank you.

Gerardo Del Real: You just announced the final assay results. More importantly, you announced plans for the next phase of exploration and drilling at your Raney Gold Project in Timmins, Ontario. I want to get your overall perspective, your take on what you learned from the 2,070 meters of drilling that was completed.

Grant Ewing: Yeah, that's correct. We embarked on this first program at the Raney Gold Project in over a decade. It was a 2,000-meter program, 9 holes. Of that, we just released the final 3 hole assay results. We've got 8 of those holes that hit the mineralized gold system returning broad intervals. The highlight intercept was hole 6, which had the 28 gram per tonne over 6 meter uncut intercept. So, we're quite pleased with the results of this first program.

We went into this project with a new interpretation based on assessment of the historic data. Historically, this project has only been drilled over about a 250-meter strike length. The project is quite large at 30 square kilometers. So, we've got a lot of area to test further here. The results of our first program led us to identify a broad structural corridor that hosts this mineralization. It's trending northwest-southeast. As we go to the northwest of our area where there's all of our drilling completed, as well as historical drilling, there's a broad area measuring over 2 kilometers. It's wide open and never been tested by drilling.

In addition to that, there's an area about 2 kilometers northwest that lines up very nicely with our projected structural corridor that hosts the mineralization. There we have some historical surface mapping data that shows quartz veining sulfides exactly where you want to see. And as well in this area there's a disruption in the old government magnetic data. So, real nice target area identified 2 kilometers to the northwest, and the structure that hosts our mineralization is open from that area right back several hundred meters.

Gerardo Del Real: I know when this program was initiated, the drill program that was just completed, it was a first-pass program to kind of get a better geologic idea of what was going on. I'm assuming, judging by the release, that you have to be happy with what you saw as far as exploration upside, because I understand you're already planning a summer exploration plan, a two-phase plan. Is that accurate?

Grant Ewing: Yeah, that's right. We were happy with these initial results. The gold here is uneven in distribution, so some holes you get the extra high-grade, like hole 6, other areas you have more broad low-grade areas of mineralization. The gold thus far we see, it's free gold, so it occurs in the quartz veins, sometimes as coarse nuggets. Historically, there's been just 40 drill holes drilled in this small area of this project. About 4 of those have hit visible gold, that coarse visible gold. So, 10% are hitting this nice coarse visible gold.

What we want to do now is develop a program to test this broad structure, especially to the northwest. We've laid out a Phase 1 and a Phase 2 program. The Phase 1 program is fully financed right now. We'll go out in the field this summer, additional prospecting, sampling, mapping along this broad structural corridor and especially focus on this area 2 kilometers west that has this break in the magnetic signature and historic mapping of sulfides and quartz veining.

What we'll do through that program is then prioritize drill targets along this corridor. We could drill another 5,000 meters in the second phase of this program all-in for about $900,000 Canadian. So, very cost-effective drilling here due to its location, driving distance from Timmins, Ontario.

Gerardo Del Real: That was going to be my next question is what do those 5,000 meters look like in terms of cost and budget. I know the property has excellent infrastructure. I have to believe that that's playing into your low cost there for that second-pass program.

Grant Ewing: Yeah, certainly. This is, compared to other gold exploration projects, very cost-effective drilling. You can access the site year-round, drive to it. For 5,000 meters of drilling, roughly $900,000 Canadian, we could get 15 to 20 holes and test a lot of this untested structure. There's great depth potential as well as potential along strike for new discovery.

We're sitting in a geologic setting that is called the Swayze Greenstone Belt, which is a subprovince of the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt. This belt of rocks hosts numerous world-class discoveries and historic production continuous for decades. So, this is a great place to be hunting for new gold deposits and great access and infrastructure in the region.

Gerardo Del Real: How keen are you to test that disruption in the magnetic data, the airborne there that's 2 kilometers west of where you just drilled? Is that a priority moving forward?

Grant Ewing: Yeah, it really is. This recent program we did what we call orientated core measurements, and this allowed us to get the proper strike direction of this mineralized zone, and that hadn't been done with the previous data. So, if we interpret the structural corridor along strike and move to the northwest, it lines up beautifully with this big disruption in the magnetic data from the historical data. It also lined up very nicely with this area where some old mapping data showed quartz veining and sulfides. So, great target, and we're excited to get going on testing that.

Gerardo Del Real: You have an exciting copper project as well. I have to mention, obviously, copper's pushing that $2.50 a pound level again. There's rumors and whispers and what looks to be an obvious push for massive infrastructure spending, not just here in the U.S. but around the world. 

Can you speak to the copper space? I know you have an exceptional background in that space, and of course you also have a very, very prospective project with the Knife Lake deposit.

Grant Ewing: Yeah, that's right. Rockridge's secondary focus is this copper project in Northeastern Saskatchewan. There we've identified a significant near-surface copper resource. We did the first resource estimate on that just last year. We're doing early planning now for the next program to go in and test several high-priority targets we've identified around the one Knife deposit that's known. This area, it's virtually untested outside of where the Knife deposit occurs. All of the historic work was put on this deposit to drill it off. And so we think we have great potential for new discovery, and we'd try to line up that program with an improving copper market over the coming months.

Gerardo Del Real: Fantastic. Grant, anything else that you'd like to add before I let you go?

Grant Ewing: Yeah, just a quick review of our capital structure. We've got a nice, tight structure. 34 million shares outstanding, a micro market cap of around $4.5 million Canadian. We think we have a great opportunity to make shareholder value here with continued exploration and discovery at our projects.

Gerardo Del Real: Fantastic. Grant, thank you again for your time. Look forward to chatting soon.

Grant Ewing: Yeah, thanks very much.