Company Announcements

Red Rock Resources PLC

("Red Rock" or the "Company")

Kimono Cobalt Project, DRC

27 June 2022

Red Rock Resources Plc, the natural resource development company focussed on gold, but with developing interests in copper, cobalt, and other minerals, announces a new Cobalt joint venture in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC"),

Red Rock Resources Congo SAU ("RRRC") has entered into a joint venture agreement (the "Agreement") with the Société d'Investissement Minier Akon et Sodimico S.A. ("Simaks") whereby the Company will acquire a 58% holding in the Kimono Cobalt-Copper Project ("KCCP"), a cobalt project in Haut Katanga Province of the DRC.

Simaks is a joint venture company between Whitewater LLC of Sharidan, Wyoming ("WhiteWater") and La Société de Développement Industriel et Minier du Congo ("SODIMICO"), which currently owns the 20 carrés (17 sq km) of mining licence PE 102 containing the KCCP.

SODIMICO is a parastatal mining company of the DRC. White Waterfall LLC is a private equity fund controlled by the American-Senegalese businessman and musician Mr Aliaune Thiam.   

Highlights

·    KCCP has a history of limited scale, high grade, Cobalt production

·    Prospective R2 Mines Subgroup lithologies identified in past drilling and trenching

·    11 grab samples tested by XRF with indicated Co grades of 0.63% to 1.8%

·    Favourable geology with R2 beds open down dip and along strikes

·    RRR has paid $50,000 for 58% of the KCCP

·    Further payments of $25,000 per quarter until a total of $400,000 paid

·    No further payment obligations

·    Acceleration or temporary suspension of payments provided for in certain eventualities  

Red Rock Chairman Andrew Bell comments: "Our thorough technical and legal due diligence on this project included the search for and collation of historic information, as well as sampling and mapping on site. We are delighted to have been able to arrive at acceptable terms for entry into this exciting and historically very high grade cobalt project.

We look forward to working in close co-operation with Simaks to advance the project, beginning with geochemistry including termite mound sampling over a wide area, and leading up to scout drilling of specific targets."

Simaks Director M. Mukanza Ilunga Rigo comments: "We believe we have a collective responsability to contribute to the energy transition. Working together with Red Rock, we are doing our part to make metals the cornerstone of a sustainable future."

Terms of the Agreement 

RRC and Simaks (the "Parties") have entered into the Agreement on the following main terms and conditions:

i)          In consideration of a $50,000 payment it has made to Simaks, RRC will receive a 58% interest in the KCCP, which Simaks will use inter alia to renew the licence;

ii)         Not later than 3 months thereafter, RRC will pay a further $25,000 to Simaks;

iii)         Thereafter RRC shall make quarterly payments ("Payments") to Simaks until the total paid reaches $400,000, provided that if certain liquidity events for RRR occur the Payments will be made at the rate of $100,000 per quarter until $400,000 is reached;

iv)        Simaks takes responsibility for all other contractual payments to Sodimiko;

v)         A Technical Operations Committee will be set up with representation by each party;

vi)        RRC will appoint the Operations Manager and the Lead Geologist;

vii)       Simaks will extend the licence term (which is currently past its existing expiry date), finalise its negotiation to put the whole of the 55 block PE102 within the KCCP, and to define the terms and timing of any feasibility as required by the Company, and if these outcomes are not achieved within a reasonable period the Company may suspend Payments until they are achieved;

viii)      A parallel agreement guaranteeing the obligations of the Parties has been entered into by Red Rock and WhiteWater.  

Project Information

The information below is principally drawn from the due diligence report prepared by Mineral Exploration Associates SARL (Minex Consulting). Technical terms used in this text and in the R2 section of Table 1 are defined either in the text, in Table 1, or in the attached Glossary.

Licence Summary and Context

The KCCP area is part of PE102, being a 20 block (17km² licence area) prospective for Co and Cu, approximately 55-60km southeast of the Katangan city of Lubumbashi. Small scale mining in several small, scattered pits within a <2km² area at the northwestern end of the permit has revealed high grade (up to 1.8% Co and 0.63% Cu) secondary cobalt mineralization in a breccia injected into a very long antiform of prospective R2 Mines Subgroup beds. These folds are typical of the regional structures hosting similar Cu-Co mineralization in the region between Lubumbashi and the Zambian border. While the limited mining and exploration to date implies that Co is possibly concentrated in the upper parts of the deeply weathered profile, no systematic exploration has been undertaken down dip where the breccia and host sediments are open ended. In addition, the remaining >3.5km of strike to the southeast remains untouched by modern prospecting or artisanal mining.

The Kimono cobalt-copper project is a portion of the licence registered under an exploitation permit (i.e., a mining licence) number PE102 which is located at about 60km SE of the city of Lubumbashi along the national tarred road No.1. The licence covers an area of about 20 mining squares which is equivalent to 17km². An R2 Mines Subgroup fragment was identified and partially mined out by La Miniere de Musoshi Kisenda ("MMK"), a Joint-Venture company between Groupe Forrest International (Forrest Group) (70%) and the parastatal company SODIMICO (30%) in the period from 2004 to 2006, mainly in the Kimono 1, Kimono 2 and Kimono 3 areas. There are four small and shallow open pits among which one, Kimono 4, situated in the northwestern portion of the tenement, was excavated by a mining cooperative.

On the 5th of November 2021, SODIMICO ceded 20 mining squares from the original 55 blocks of the licence (PE102) to Simaks Mining Sarl. Simaks is a local company constituted by SODIMICO (30%) and White Waterfall LLC (70%).

Map 1: PE102 Simaks and the original PE102 Sodimico

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3454Q_1-2022-6-27.pdf

The Kimono Project (PE102) is situated in the vicinity of a well-developed region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in an area of many active Cu-Co deposits straddling the transition from the Zambian to the DRC Copperbelt (Figure 8).

The Kimono Project is in the former Katanga Province in the Central African Copperbelt (CACB) belonging to the Lufilian Arc that straddles the international border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia. The CACB forms one of the largest metallogenic provinces of the world and hosts over 50% of the world's cobalt resources¹ and a substantial part of the world's high-grade copper.

The major Cu-Co deposits occur within the Neoproterozoic Katangan Supergroup of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Roan Supergroup of Zambia in the Zambian Copper Belt ("ZCB"). Within the DRC, Cu and Co mineralisation is present from Kimpe (northeast of Luanshimba) in the southeast up to and even west of Kolwezi in the northwest, occupying the Fold and Thrust Belt within the Lufilian Arc. The Cu-Co occurrences are mostly located in two stratigraphic levels forming the "Lower" and the "Upper" orebodies with a total cumulative thickness varying between 15 and 55m. Total resources of the Copperbelt in the DRC and Zambia are estimated at more than 150 million metric tonnes of Cu and 8 million metric tonnes of Co metal².

The Roan Group comprises both siliciclastic and carbonate to evaporite type sediments proximal and distal respectively to the underlaying basement granite. The typical more mineralised hosts in the Zambian-type Copperbelt comprise proximal siliciclastic sediments while the distal sabkha-type evaporitic chemical sediments constitute the bulk of the Katangan-type Copperbelt. Stratigraphic markers such as the RSC or Grey RAT in Katanga have no direct equivalents to the south whereas the Zambian Ore Shale is possibly replaced by the pelitic dolomites of the Lower Ore Body (R2.1) in the DRC. Many workers believe the Congolese red RAT (R1) beds are the temporal equivalent of the Lower Roan siliclastics in Zambia with mineralisation located in the upper formations of the latter.

The Kimono Project is located on the northern side of the Luina basement dome and is underlain by Neoproterozoic rocks belonging to the undifferentiated Congolese-type Roan Group.

Mineralization Style

Most of the Cu-Co deposits in the CACB are the stratiform sediment-hosted (SSH) mineralisation type. In addition, the sediment-hosted Cu-Co deposits type, there are structurally controlled and vein-type deposits (Kipushi, Deziwa, Dikulushi for example). The Kimono Project consists of a sediment-hosted copper mineralisation carried in the R2 Mines Subgroup.

The typical stratabound Cu mineralisation in the R2 Mines Subgroups occurs in 3 different stratigraphic levels:

• The Lower Ore Body (LOB) occurring in the basal sequence of the R2 (Grey RAT or RAT gris, DStrat, RSF) carrying disseminated copper sulphides including carrolite, chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite, preferably in arenaceous laminae, with irregularly decreasing Cu content downwards from the basal contact of the RSC.

• Similarly, to the LOB, the Upper Ore Body occurs in a dolomitic shale unit, commencing at the top contact of the RSC silicified dolomite. The principal minerals are covellite, carrollite, chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite, with increasing sulphides in carbonaceous zones in the SD, but generally decreasing upwards and along strike from the richest centres. The BOMZ is part of the upper ore body and is a dark sandy to shaley dolomite showing significant metal enrichment.

• The third ore body occurs in the CMN (Kambove Dolomite) and consists of disseminated and bedded chalcopyrite and bornite in carbonaceous dark layers. This ore body has been more recently recognised as a significant host for mineralisation. Deposits containing mineralisation from all three stratigraphic levels include: Kamoto, Mutoshi, Kinsevere, Luiswishi, Kwatebala, Mashamba, Dikuluwe, Nyoka, Virgule, T17, Kasombo, Kasonta, Lupoto.

However, the location and form of some CACB deposits often demonstrate a strong measure of structural control with remobilization of Cu-Co (U-Ni-Pd) giving rise to epigenetic sulphides focusing in local breccias or in proximity to faults. This also occurs to varying degrees in a number of deposits in the southeastern part of Katangan Copperbelt in places such as Kalabi, Kinsevere, Kipese, Shinkolobwe, Kimpe and Kipoi etc. In addition, Katanga has undergone considerable periods of planation and weathering since the Tertiary era with significant fluctuations in the water table and resulting intense decomposition of the profile with leaching and redistribution of metals in the pedolith. This results in a concentration of Co near surface with enrichment of Cu slightly deeper in the saprolite.

Local Geology and Historical Work

There is no recorded systematic historical work in the licence. Boxes of drill core poorly managed and stored were found in the field camp that shows mostly RAT Breccia.

However, historical exploration completed by MMK identified R2 Mines Subgroup fragments contained within the heterogeneous breccia known as RAT Breccia. MMK's work was focused on the cobalt rich heterogenous breccia. 11 drillholes with an average of 50 metres were completed totalling 524.20 metres and targeting the breccia.

This drilling programme plus mining exposures revealed that Kimono can be classified as one of the Congolese Copperbelt ("CCB") type mineralization styles known as the "Basin-central" deposits. It appears similar to other proximal CCB type deposits such as Mabaya and Kimpe while Red Rock's Luanshimba, project, drilled last year, and closer to the Luina Dome, has more in common with ZCB type prospects.

The existence of the R2 Mines Subgroup within the tenement suggests that classifying the Kimono Project as a CCB type ranks it as highly prospective ground for both cobalt and secondarily for copper.

The Mines Subgroup, formerly called the Mines Series, constitutes the most well‐known stratigraphic section of the Neoproterozoic Roan Group because of its Cu‐Co mineralization. Described as a carbonate unit that formed in a reducing environment, it has been subdivided into three formations (oldest to youngest): The Kamoto Dolomite (R.2.1), the Dolomitic Shale (SD; R.2.2) and the Kambove Dolomite (known as CMN; R.2.3).

Most of the above-mentioned lithologies have been intercepted in shallow drill holes completed in 2004 at the Kimono 1 pit which lies approximately 1.5 Km from the Kimono 4 quarry.

• Kamoto Dolomite is subdivided into four units. The basal unit is Grey RAT, which consists of chloritic and dolomitic siltstone. It is overlain by three mostly dolomitic units, the "Dolomites stratifiées" or D. Strat. (stratified, fine-grained dolomites), "Roches Siliceuses Feuilletées" or RSF (siliceous, laminated dolomites), and "Roches Siliceuses Cellulaires" or RSC (massive and generally stromatolitic dolomites). Parts of these rock formations, especially RSC, have been intercepted in drill holes and mapped in the Kimono 1 open pit. In addition, a heterogenous breccia fills a major structure that impregnates the Kamoto Dolomite in the project with high cobalt content.

• The Dolomitic Shale (SD) Formation consists mostly of fine argillaceous clastic material cemented by dolomite. The formation can be further subdivided based on the presence of three carbonaceous marker units. Sedimentary rocks at the base of this formation were deposited in a shallow-water, high-salinity environment (intertidal zone); rocks higher in the formation are interpreted to have formed in a deeper-water environment. These units have been partially intercepted by the drilling program completed by MMK and mapped in the Kimono 1 open pit.

• The Kambove Dolomite Formation (CMN) is divided into (1) the Lower CMN (mostly dark dolomites, enriched in organic matter), and (2) the Upper CMN (clean dolomites containing interbedded, chloritic dolomitic siltstones). These formations were noted in drill holes or by structural geological mapping of the Kimono 1 pit, but the formation is still open towards the east.

Table 1: Katangan Stratigraphic Column

In addition to the structural mapping conducted by Minex team at Kimono 1 (280m lengths x 70 m widths x 150m x 25 m), Kimono 2, Kimono 3 (50m x 20m x10m) and Kimono 6 (100 m x30m x10m) workings were visited but the artisanal mining activities have badly disturbed the ground and the small and shallow open pits are filled by mud and water. Therefore, no additional field data were collected at these 2 prospects. Eleven grab samples were collected within the four shallow open pits. These samples were then analysed using a portable XRF spectrometer and the following results were obtained:

Table 2: XRF Results for grab samples taken at Kimono

The following Google Earth Pro© map shows the locations the grab samples and their Co contents received from collected in all four open pits. Note that Kimono 3 is situated outside the licence PE 102.

Map 2: Grab sample locations and grades

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3454Q_2-2022-6-27.pdf

However, historical data received from a third party helped Minex to determine that 4 trenches were excavated at the Kimono 2 prospect. Even though they were not visible in the field, they reveal that the R2 Mines Subgroup rocks were described as shown in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Trenches excavated at Kimono 2 Prospect

In addition to the trenches excavated at the Kimono 2, 114 exploration pits were dug between Kimono 2 and Kimono 3 to target the lateritic horizon that carried high grade cobalt (up to 1.5% Co).

Structure and Mineralisation

At Kimono, cobalt was extracted from a heterogenous breccia situated near the Lower Ore Body (LOB). Based on the work to date at Kimono, the existence and the thickness of the Upper Ore Body (UOB) and the Third Ore Body cannot be determined with certainty. The ground is still open down dip where possible SD and CMN might be situated and also along the strike where possible R2 fragments might be discovered. Limited evidence suggests that the principal mineralized unit, the heterogeneous breccia, locally intrudes the core of a northeasterly dipping recumbent anticline - as seen in other lengthy piercement anticlines in the region. Alternatively, the breccia is associated with a thrust that has penetrated a thick succession of R2 sediments which explains duplication of the stratigraphic succession. However, the scattered nature of the pits implies that other rafts of prospective R2 sediments or mineralized breccias exist away from the main axis of this regional anticlinal fold.

Within the open pits, Co mineralization occurs as black oxides, comprising fine grained heterogenite intimately mixed with Mn oxides over widths of 2 to over 10 metres infilling the breccia matrix, and on joints and fractures. Little or no malachite was evident yet XRF analyses suggest that significant Cu is finely dispersed within the black oxides and would contribute to the value of the final product. Furthermore, partial evidence suggests that better Co values occur with more lateritic material towards the upper portion of the saprolite profile, although it was often common practice not to assay core if no obvious mineralization was evident and therefore, fresher mineralization may have been missed.

SWOT Analysis

Minex Consulting notes that a SWOT analysis has been done by the Simaks technical team as follows. Italicized points were added by Minex:

Table 4: SWOT Analysis of the Kimono Project

Conclusions

1          Significant mostly secondary Co mineralization is associated with a heterogeneous breccia that pierces a lengthy, NW-SE trending anticlinal structure of Roan sediments in a setting analogous to similar Cu-Co mineralization in this region of Katanga southeast of Lubumbashi.

2.         Isolated parts of <1km of nearly 5km of strike have not seen any attention by artisanal mining or exploration along favourable structures suggesting that the upside potential may be considerable.

3.         At this stage, the mineralization appears to be epigenetic, although the physical association with favourable R2 lithologies does not rule out the possibility that the metals have been remobilized from more extensive stratiform sediment-hosted mineralisation at depth or along strike.

4.         The limited evidence from shallow artisanal mining and drilling implies that better Co values are associated with supergene enrichment, although the breccia and neighbouring favourable Mines Series sediments are open ended down dip and probably along strike.

5.         Initial grab sampling gave Co values up to 1.8% with Cu peaking at 0.63% associated with black oxides, a diagnostic tool seen as indicating a favourable target by artisanal miners.

6.         Artisanal mining has been limited to obvious outcropping favourable areas and a true appreciation of the structure and extent of mineralization is not clear because of the lack of systematic historical exploration.

7.         The favourable infrastructure, relatively shallow cover and likely continuity of the strike of the host antiform are extremely positive factors.

Notes: ¹ USGS and other sources.

            ² Misra KC, 2000, 'Understanding Mineral Deposits'.

The technical and related information in this report relates to exploration results based on information from third parties and data compiled by Kazadi S-B. Barry (MSc), Pr.Sci.Nat., MGSSA and Steffen Kalbskopf, Pr.Sci.Nat., FGGSA (BSc Hons) who are members of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions. Mr. Kazadi and Mr Kalbskopf have sufficient experience in the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration. Mr. Kazadi and Mr Kalbskopf consent to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears. Mr Kazadi is a Managing Director of Mineral Exploration Associates SARL, consultants (under the name Minex Consulting) to the Company. Mr. Kalbskopf is a Senior Technical Advisor of Minerals Exploration Associates SARL.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Bell 0207 747 9990                                                       Chairman Red Rock Resources Plc

Scott Kaintz 0207 747 9990                                                        Director Red Rock Resources Plc

Roland Cornish/ Rosalind Hill Abrahams 0207 628 3396           NOMAD Beaumont Cornish Limited

Jason Robertson 0207 374 2212                                                Broker First Equity Limited                                                        

French speakers may alternatively contact:

Ali Barro 0207 747 9990                                                         Data Manager Red Rock Resources Plc

GLOSSARY

Anticline                               a ridge or fold of stratified rock in which the strata slope downwards from the crest (hence opposite of a syncline)

Antiform                               a topographic feature which is composed of sedimentary layers in a convex formation, but may not actually form a real anticline, in that the oldest rocks may not be exposed in the middle

Arenaceous                        arenaceous rocks (arenites) include all those clastic sedimentary rocks, typically sandstones, whose particle sizes range from 2 to 0.06 mm, or if silt is included, to 0.004 mm

Argillaceous                        clastic sedimentary rock containing silt- or clay-sized particles that are less than 0.0625 mm and/or clay minerals. The term argillite is used for rocks which are more indurated than claystone or shale but not metamorphosed to slate. All these argillaceous rocks are consolidated equivalents of muds, oozes, silts, and clays

Bornite                                  a sulphide copper mineral with chemical composition Cu5FeS4

Breccia                                 a sedimentary rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix

CAMI                                     the Cadastre Minier, or mining cadastre, of the DRC

Carbonate                          minerals in chemically precipitated sedimentary rock containing the carbonate ion, such as calcium carbonate CaCO3 (the chief constituent of limestone), dolomite CaMg(CO3)2, and siderite FeCO3

Carrolite                               a sulphide of copper and cobalt with chemical composition CuCo2S4

Chalcocite                          an important sulphide copper mineral with chemical composition Cu2S

Chalcopyrite                      the most abundant sulphide copper mineral with chemical formula CuFeS

Chlorites                               abundant minerals of varying composition typical of mildly metamorphosed or altered rock 

Clastic                                   a rock consisting of broken pieces of other rock

Covellite                               a sulphide copper mineral found most often as a secondary mineral in supergene environments

Dolomite                              a sedimentary calcium magnesium carbonate rock

Epigenetic                           of mineral deposits, formed later than the rock which encloses them, e.g. a vein

Evaporite                             a water-soluble sedimentary mineral deposit that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution

Heterogenite                      a mineral oxide of cobalt, sometimes containing copper and iron

Laminae                               small scale thin layering or bedding sequences in a rock

Laterite                                 a soil and rock type formed in tropical latitudes with high temperatures and heavy seasonal rainfall, often forming clay-rich limonites and saprolites

Malachite                            a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2

Neoproterozoic the unit of geological time from 1bn to 538.8m years ago

Pedolith                                soil, the upper subdivision of the regolith

Pelitic                                    a metamorphosed fine-grained sedimentary rock, such as mudstone, siltstone or shale

Piercement                         the piercing of one structure by another

Pre-Cambrian                     all that period of the Earth's history up to 538.8m years ago

Regolith                                all that lies above the solid rock, including soil, ash, alluvium, saprolite and organic material

Sabkha                                  a coastal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate

Saprolite                               chemically weathered rock in the lower zone of the soil profile, partially oxidised but retaining some lithic structure

Siliciclastic                           clastic noncarbonate sedimentary rocks that are composed primarily of silicate minerals, such as quartz or clay minerals

Stromatolite                         layered sedimentary accretionary structures formed by micro-organisms in the pre-Cambrian Era  

Stratiform                             mineral deposits concentrated within one or more strata of volcano-sedimentary and sedimentary bedded rock formations

Sulphide                                sulphide minerals are compounds in which sulphur is combined as an anion with a metal or semi-metal cation; generated in volcanic or volcano-sedimentary rocks, they include ore minerals of most metals used by man

Supergene                           used of processes near the earth's surface, including mineral enrichment towards the base of the oxidised zone as a result of the circulation of meteoric waters

Vuggy                                   containing vugs or cavities

XRF                                         X-ray fluorescence, a non-destructive analytical technique used to identify the elemental composition of materials