GreenRoc Mining (GROC) said a recent site visit to the Amitsoq Graphite Project in Southern Greenland has confirmed drill pad locations ahead of the company’s next drilling programme.
GreenRoc, which was created to buy the spun-out assets of Alba Mineral Resources, intends to utilise its assets in Greenland to become a key supplier of critical, high-demand minerals.
Its portfolio of assets in Greenland include a range of 100% owned projects acquired from Alba Mineral Resources including; the Amitsoq graphite project, the Thule Black Sands ilmenite project, the Melville Bay iron project and the Inglefield multi-element project.
During a recent management site visit to Amitsoq, which is considered ‘one of the highest-grade graphite projects globally’, underground mine workings were inspected.
One of the main purposes of the site visit to Amitsoq was to plan the drill pads for the next phase of drilling at the Amitsoq Island graphite deposit, the site of the former graphite mine.
The GreenRoc team have laid out a drill grid which seeks to maximise the resource potential of the deposit and to build on the phase 1 drilling campaign completed back in August 2021.
The objective of phase 2 drilling will be to target the completion of the outstanding drill holes from the first phase plan as well as stepping out to the western side of the Amitsoq island.
The successful approach trialled by drilling NQ core (47.6mm diameter core produced from wireline drilling) for the last two holes of the first phase will be continued in the next phase.
The Company outlined to investors that the exploration target for the Amitsoq Island area of the licence is between 1.7 and 4.5 Mt of ore grading between 24-36% contained graphite.
The outcrops at the Kalaaq deposit, which is located on GreenRoc’s licence 2.1 km across the fjord from the Amitsoq mine area on a peninsula of the mainland, were also inspected.
GreenRoc said the average grade in the Kalaaq area from channel sampling to date is 25.6% contained graphite. As a result of these ‘significant outcrops and excellent grades’, GreenRoc is now creating a drilling plan with the objective of declaring a maiden resource at Kalaaq.
In addition, GreenRoc said the recent fieldwork at Kalaaq has revealed additional graphite targets, which will be reported on fully in due course, upon receipt of laboratory assays.
The exploration target for Kalaaq currently stands at 4.0-7.0Mt grading 23-39% contained graphite. The Company said it intends to start drilling at Kalaaq at the same time as drilling phase 2 at Amitsoq, with the aim of defining a maiden resource on both the Amitsoq Island, as well as the Kalaaq project, areas of the licence.
Kirk Adams, GreenRoc's CEO, said: "Amitsoq is one of the highest-grade graphite projects globally and GreenRoc is now accelerating its development and attaining valuable resource information, while at the same time initiating the groundwork to support feasibility data.
Our site visit also enabled the management team to review the extent of the graphite outcrops and the exposure in the old mine workings which have held up particularly well over the years. The unusually good ground condition bodes well for any future underground operations.”
Adams added: "We also continue to be reassured by the supportive nature of the Greenlandic mining jurisdiction and look forward to expanding our operations there."
London-listed Alba announced in its final results for the year ended 30 November 2020 published back in May 2021 its intention to form a new AIM-quoted, Greenland-focused, spin-out company that would unlock ‘real and sustained value’ across its asset portfolio.
The plan formed after the pandemic had placed some doubt upon Alba’s ability to execute its field programmes, particularly at the Amitsoq Graphite Project where it had plans to drill. Following today’s admission, Alba said it will retain a 54% shareholding in the company.
At the time, it said it believed that moving the Greenland Projects into a new listed vehicle would allow the market to set ‘a clear value for those assets in isolation’ rather than as part of a larger pool of diverse mining, oil and gas and exploration assets, as is currently the case.
With these Greenland based mining assets now separated from Alba, the Company said it now intends to build a position as a 'pure play' Greenland focused mining company that will not be reliant on any single commodity ‘but will have a diversified commodity mix,’ it noted.
According to the European Commission, nearly half of the EU's supply of natural graphite and titanium is provided by China, highlighting the EU’s overdependence on Chinese supply.
GreenRoc said its strategy of seeking to fast-track the development of the Amitsoq and the Thule Black Sands Ilmenite Projects are therefore supported by both the US and the EU.
In recent weeks, more investors have turned their eyes towards Greenland after KoBold Metals, a mineral exploration firm backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, signed an agreement with Bluejay Mining to search for critical materials used in EV vehicles within the region.
To date, independent test work on Amitsoq graphite has confirmed that it can be upgraded to high-purity spherical graphite (>99.95% C) for use in lithium-ion batteries and the EV sector.
A maiden drilling programme was completed at Amitsoq this summer, the objective of which was to enable the firm to declare a maiden Mineral Resource estimate for the Project.
Meanwhile, following the recently completed extension drilling programme at TBS, the objective will be to define a substantial increase to the Mineral Resource Estimate.
GreenRoc’s objective is to have at least one, if not both of the Amitsoq and TBS Projects firmly established as development projects within 12 months of its admission to AIM.
Kirk Adams, Chief Executive Officer of GreenRoc, told shareholders that GreenRoc’s debut on AIM comes at a time when demand for critical minerals is “increasing significantly.”
“Our objective is to fast-track exploration, supported by our successful £5.12m fundraising, to significantly add to the inherent value of our assets and move towards development.
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