Rafaella Resources Limited has commenced a drilling campaign for up to 4,500 metres, through its Spanish subsidiary and 100 per cent owner of the Santa Comba tungsten and tin project, Galicia Tin and Tungsten SL (GTT).
The drilling campaign will initially focus on converting existing Inferred Resources located within the current pit shells to Measured and Indicated status amounting to seven holes, totalling approximately 1,500 metres.
Four of the initial holes are positioned within the existing aggregate quarry and all the targeted resource upgrade will fall within Stage 1 of the mine plan, which is to be undertaken through a commercial agreement with a local aggregate quarry operator [1].
The drilling campaign will then seek to expand the resource through step out drilling and, subject to results, this will be followed by infill drilling such as that any additional resource where possible will be converted to Measured and Indicated status.
Rafaella has advised that Sondeos y Perforaciones Industriales del Bierzo, S.A. (SPI) has already mobilised a Spidrill 160D rig to site and has commenced drilling the first of the holes, MC108 with a target depth of 160 metres. A second rig is planned to be mobilised on 2 February with a possible third rig later in the month.
The drilling campaign is forecast to be completed by the end of April, followed by an updated Mineral Resource Estimate, revised mine schedules and economics.
The company further detailed that site work is continuing, with a review of existing process equipment and the disposal of such where determined as not required for future operations.
Underground recommissioning is also progressing with the acquisition of ventilation equipment and ongoing civil works to improve water drainage.
Managing Director of Rafaella Resources Limited, Steven Turner, said the drilling campaign is intended to take a project that has already demonstrated exceptional economics and add scale in terms of resource, mine life, and shareholder value.
“This is a highly targeted drill campaign, building upon our very successful 2019/20 drilling and resulting enhanced knowledge of the resource,” he said.
“The purpose of the campaign is to deliver resources that will be fed directly in to updated mine schedules and therefore should be immediately accretive to the project economics.”
“We look forward to keeping the market abreast of the drilling activity.”
[1] See Rafaella’s ASX announcement dated 2 December 2020.