Rockgate Capital (RGT-T) has significantly increased the size and grade of the uranium and silver resource in its Falea project in southwest Mali with a resource update.
The update comes a little less than two years after the company released an initial resource in May 2009. Since then, the company has added roughly 25,700 metres of mostly infill drilling over 116 holes to the 40,900 metres over 149 holes that the first resource was based on.
The Falea project is now estimated to contain 1.96 million indicated tonnes grading 0.14% U3O8, 196 grams silver per tonne and 0.18% copper for 6.07 million contained lbs. U3O8, 12.36 million contained oz. silver, and 7.91 million contained lbs. copper. The inferred resource now stands at 9.5 million tonnes of 0.104% U3O8, 93 grams silver and 0.23% copper.
With only 76,000 indicated tonnes in the last resource, the increase in the category is quite high, working out to roughly 11 times more indicated silver oz. and 7 times more lbs. U3O8 , both uncapped.
Overall, the drilling has increased the contained lbs. of U3O8 by 37% and the grade by 29.5% with the same 0.03% cutoff used in 2009. In silver, the new resource has overall increased silver oz. by 28.6% and grade by 22.5%.
The resource update led to a strong share price boost for Rockgate, which had already seen a significant appreciation in the months leading up to the update as it continued to release drill results while the uranium market heated up.
Since hitting a low of 47¢ last July, the company’s share price had climbed to $2.48 before the update, and then shot up 35¢ on 2.4 million shares traded the day of the update to close at a 52-week high of $2.83.
The day after the new high the company announced a $30.1-million financing, with plans to sell 11.8 million special warrants at $2.55 each and a further 1.77 million special warrants at the same price in an underwriter’s option. The company’s share price closed down 7¢ at $2.76 on the day.
The financing follows a $15-million private placement the company closed last November, issuing 13.6 million subscription receipts at $1.10 each that were approved for conversion to shares at a December annual general meeting. Following that issuing, the company had 93.6 million shares outstanding.
With its pockets now lined, the company can continue to advance its Falea project. Rockgate is currently diamond drilling to extend the plateau edge structure and identify more high-grade mineralization. Drilling will also test for near-surface, bulk-tonnage mineralization.
In late May 2010, the company released initial metallurgical results that showed uranium recoveries of roughly 90% in 48 hours and 86% in 6 hours, with conventional acid leach. Silver recoveries came in at 77.5% using a cyanide leach. The month before, Rockgate initiated baseline environmental and social studies on the Falea project.
Be the first to comment on "Rockgate boosts grade, tonnage at Falea"