Rokmaster up 25% on B.C. polymetallic deal

Rokmaster Resources Corp. [RKR-TSXV] shares rallied sharply Monday after the company said it has secured an option to acquire 100% of a nine-million-tonne gold-polymetallic project in British Columbia.

Further to a August 16, 2019 news release Rokmaster said it has executed a definitive option agreement with Huakan International Mining Inc. and Huakan’s shareholders, under which Huakan has granted Rokmaster an option to acquire a 100% interest in the  J&L property.

Based in Vancouver, Huakan is a privately owned exploration subsidiary of China-based Huakan Mining company Ltd. and Huakan Resources Inc.

The J&L property hosts one of the largest undeveloped precious and polymetallic deposits in British Columbia, Rokmaster said in a press release on Monday. The property is located north of Revelstoke within the Selkirk Mountains near the north end of the Kootenay Arc, a complex sequence of east dipping Neoproterozoic to Lower Paleozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanics rocks.

Rokmaster shares advanced on the news, rising 25% or $0.01 to $0.05 on volume of 200,600. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $0.03 and $0.065.

“This project, which we are calling the Revel Ridge Project, gives Rokmaster the opportunity to rapidly develop two significant precious and polymetallic mineral deposits situated in a favourable location with year-round road access and good potential for expansion,” said Rokmaster Chairman Mike Cowin.

Rokmaster is a Vancouver based mineral exploration company with a portfolio that includes the Duncan Lake zinc-lead project, which is located about 64 kilometres north of Kaslo and 150 kilometres north of Trail, B.C.  Past drilling on the project intersected multiple intervals of strong zinc-lead mineralization on three successive sections that is suggestive of the presence of a potentially economic deposit, and warrants further work, according to a July, 2018 technical report.

Revel Ridge covers 3,150 hectares and has two known and significant precious and polymetallic mineral deposits. The Main zone is a structurally controlled replacement deposit overprinting a pre-existing silver-lead-zinc deposit known as the Yellowjacket zone.

Numerous exploration companies including several major mining companies have explored and advanced the property deposits since the Main Zone’s discovery in 1912. At least 315 diamond drill holes have been completed on the property since 1983, totalling 41,076 metres of drilling.

Rokmaster can exercise the option by paying Huakan $44.2 million in cash. That amount is payable in scheduled lump sums over a period of five years. The final lump sum of payment of $20 million is due within five business days after the fifth anniversary after the effective date of the option agreement.

In order the keep the option in good standing, Rokmaster must complete an updated preliminary economic assessment on or before the first anniversary of the effective date of the agreement.

In December, 2017 Huakan optioned the property to Golden Dawn Minerals Inc. [GOM-TSXV] and in January 2018, Golden Dawn announced an updated mineral resource estimate for the project.

According to the estimate, the Main Zone contains a measured and indicated resource of 4.1 million tonnes of 5.67 g/t gold, or 751,000 ounces, and 54.2 g/t silver or 7.2 million ounces of silver, 1.9% lead, 3.47% zinc or 8.65 g/t gold equivalent or 1.1 million gold equivalent ounces.

On top of that is an inferred resource of 4.4 million tonnes of 4.42 g/t gold or 630,000 ounces, 63 g/t silver or just under nine million ounces of silver, 1.9% lead, 2.65% zinc, or 7.13 g/t gold equivalent or one million gold equivalent ounces. The Yellowjacket zone contained an indicated resource of 764,000 tonnes, grading 0.09 g/t gold, or 2,000 ounces of gold and 62.8 g/t silver or 1.5 million ounces of silver, 2.61% lead and 9.98% zinc.

The Hanging Wall zone hosts an additional 280,000 tonnes of indicated resources.

Rokmaster notes that on January, 2018, Armex Mining Corp. filed a statement of claim with the Supreme Court of British Columbia claiming that it had a valid letter of intent with Huakan in relation to the property. Huakan believes the Armex litigation has no merit and it subsequently initiated a counter claim against Armex. The dispute remains before the court.

In December 2018, Golden Dawn and Huakan terminated their option deal.

In a telephone interview with Resource World Magazine, Rokmaster President and CEO John Mirko said he plans to raise $500,000 in the near future. Financing proceeds will be used to update a preliminary economic assessment that was completed in 2012. Once the PEA is updated, Rokmaster expects to secure additional financing to enable it to develop the project.