Drilling & mining studies accelerated by Sunshine

Rockfire Resources plc (LON: ROCK), the base metal, critical mineral and precious metal exploration company, is pleased to provide an update on activities by ASX-listed (ASX:SHN) Sunshine Metals Limited ("Sunshine") at the Plateau Gold Deposit ("Plateau") in Queensland, Australia.

On 5th January 2023, Rockfire entered into a Binding Agreement with Sunshine to farm-in to Plateau and earn up to a 75% interest in the tenement. On Sunshine achieving 75% ownership, Rockfire shall have the right to elect to contribute 25% of on-going expenditure, or to convert to a 1.5% Net Smelter Royalty (NSR).

Sunshine has today announced a successful Placement of AUD$3 million to accelerate development of its near-surface gold resources in North Queensland, including Plateau. You may view the original Sunshine announcement here:

Highlights

• The funds raised by Sunshine will be applied on accelerating drilling, metallurgical test work and mining studies on the shallow oxide gold Resources at Liontown and Plateau, and advanced targets at Tigertown and Coronation.
• Drilling is scheduled to commence in May at Plateau.
• Sunshine's strategy is to identify shallow (<50m), oxide gold resources for processing at potential, nearby toll treating mills during a time of high gold prices.
• Sunshine aims to rapidly evaluate the commercial potential of the following deposits: Tigertown, Coronation, Liontown, and Plateau.
• Plateau represents an advanced target with a near-surface, Inferred Resource totalling 49koz Au at 2.0 g/t Au. To advance the Resource classification, ~1,000m of drilling and metallurgical testing are required. These activities are expected to commence in May 2025.

David Price, Chief Executive Officer of Rockfire, commented:

"It is welcome news that Sunshine has elected to fast-track Plateau towards potential development alongside its other near-surface gold deposits within the Ravenswood Consolidated Project. Core collected from the planned drilling at Plateau is expected to be used for metallurgical test work purposes. Rockfire shareholders can expect news flow from this drilling as results come to hand, alongside news of the metallurgical test results."

"The price of gold has increased substantially over the last 6 months, and it is prudent of Sunshine to make the most of these unprecedented high gold prices. There are several operating gold processing facilities and several processing plants under care and maintenance within a radius of 50km of Plateau. Rockfire shareholders will be kept informed of progress at Plateau through updates made by Rockfire RNS."

Douglas Crippen