Mirabel to acquire Rocmec

Montreal-based junior explorer Mirabel Resources (RMB-V) plans to acquire privately owned Rocmec International.

The two originally teamed to develop and exploit Rocmec’s thermal fragmentation technique under a 2003 agreement.

The latest agreement, details of which were not released, is subject to due diligence by both companies and regulatory approval.

Rocmec’s thermal fragmentation method involves drilling vertical holes 5.75 inches in diameter to depths of up to 20 metres. The holes follow vein mineralization at regular intervals based on the width of the area to be mined. A burner then circulates in each hole, causing the rock to shatter. The resulting granular material (up to a quarter of an inch) is then vacuumed up.

Mirabel recently filed an application for Rocmec to use its technique to collect a 4,000-tonne bulk sample from the gold-bearing South quartz vein on the Denain property, near Val d’Or, Que. The work is expected to take several months. Late last year, Rocmec used its technique to collect a 100-tonne sample from various areas at Denain. The material was shipped to Noranda‘s (NRD-T) Horne smelter.

In April 2003, Campbell Resources (CCH-T) inked a deal to test Rocmec’s technique on some ore blocks at its Joe Mann mine in northern Quebec. The new method could increase reserves and resources and significantly reduce costs by making available some currently uneconomic narrow structures. The method suffered numerous problems during startup, but output is improving.