Rockfire Resources Announces 500% Increase in Zinc Resource at Molaoi, Greece
Rockfire Resources has reported a 500% increase in the JORC Mineral Resource estimate for its Molaoi zinc, silver, and lead deposit in Greece, making it one of the top 20 undeveloped zinc resources globally by tonnage, grade, and zinc equivalent metal content. The updated resource significantly surpasses the maiden resource announced in May 2022.
The Molaoi deposit, located in the Peloponnese region and held entirely by Hellenic Minerals SA, a subsidiary of Rockfire, now contains an inferred resource of 15.0 million tonnes with an average grade of 7.26% zinc, 1.75% lead, and 39.5 g/t silver, equating to 1,500,000 tonnes of zinc equivalent metal. This resource also includes 1,090,000 tonnes of zinc, 260,000 tonnes of lead, and 19.1 million ounces of silver.
In addition to zinc, the Molaoi deposit contains germanium, a critical and rare metal, with preliminary estimates indicating 4.8 million tonnes at 21.9 g/t germanium, equating to 105,700 kilograms of the metal. Germanium is currently priced at $3,681 per kilogram, offering a valuable by-product for future zinc production.
The resource estimation uses a 4% zinc cut-off and includes only a 2.1 km section of the potential 7 km strike length, with mineralization remaining open at depth and along strike. Further exploration is expected to expand the resource as recent drill results from Rockfire, which have not yet been included in the current estimate, showed promising grades of zinc equivalent.
Metallurgical test work conducted in 1984 demonstrated high recoveries for zinc (96%), lead (92%), and silver (91%), indicating that the mineralization is highly recoverable.
