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NEWS

Grace the perfect gift for Rox chief

by Michael Washbourne

Rox has increased its ownership of the Youanmi gold project
to 70%, with Venus Metals holding the remaining 30%

lex Passmore celebrated his one-year anniversary as would like to see that increase earlier. It just means one of the
ARox Resources Ltd’s managing director with a successful questions is answered for them and then everyone is clear on
capital raising which opened the door for his company to how it might work going forward, what financing plans are and it
assume majority ownership of its flagship Youanmi gold also provides certainty for our JV partner as well.”
project, about 400km east of Geraldton. Passmore’s background in equity and capital markets proved REGISTER NOW!
While that anniversary gift was well-received by all concerned, incredibly useful when launching the recent $8.74 million placement
the true icing on the cake for Passmore was a string of impressive and $4 million SPP which saw several institutional investors from
drilling results throughout June which delivered a nearly fourfold both Australia and Europe join the Rox share register.
increase in Rox’s share price. Taylor Collison and Canaccord Genuity acted as joint lead
Days after increasing its interest in the Youanmi JV from 50% to managers to the placement, while Tamesis Partners LLP served
70%, Rox struck 25m @ 34.79 g/t gold from 143m (including 6m as the European bookrunner. Both aspects of the raising were
@ 140.7 g/t from 150m) at the Grace prospect. At the time of print, it heavily oversubscribed.
was the company’s deepest drilling intercept over the project area. “The guys who came in liked the Rox value proposition, the fact
Rox followed up that result, which triggered an initial doubling of that we’ve got a large landholding and think it’s underappreciated
its share price, with more high-grade results from Grace, including by the market,” Passmore said.
4m @ 88.81 g/t gold from 27m (including 2m @ 176.03 g/t from “The quality of institutions we’ve been able to bring in is great and
28m) and 11m @ 18.75 g/t gold from 8m (including 3m @ 61.27 really reshapes the Rox register from being mainly retail to more
g/t from 10m). weight towards the institutional. It’s still a work in progress, we’ve
Drilling was ongoing at the time of print and assays from a series still got a heavy retail component and while there’s nothing wrong
of deeper step-out holes were also pending. with having a retail component, if you need to do something
“These very impressive results are the best we’ve seen and, quickly, it’s handy to have institutions on your register to make
significantly, are the deepest drilling at Grace to date,” Passmore the calls to.”
said. “The exploration model we are applying at Grace is Upon joining the company last year, Passmore was integral in
continuing to work well, delivering what is shaping up to be a shifting the company’s focus from mid-range nickel exploration to
substantial high-grade deposit.” near-term gold development.
Passmore’s excitement at the drilling results, which are set to Passmore said he continued to be amazed at the amount of gold
culminate in a maiden resource estimate for Grace later this year, which appears to have been left behind by previous operators of
came on the back of successfully pulling together a $12.74 million the Youanmi project.
capital raising, of which $3 million was immediately pushed into “The Grace prospect has 5m @ 125 g/t starting from surface…no
increasing Rox’s stake in the Younami JV to 70%. Venus Metals one in their right mind would leave that behind,” he said.
Corp Ltd holds the remaining 30%.
“We’re taking all of the old data, but also defining new skills
Younami historically produced about 667,000oz at an average and thinking with some new techniques. Our exploration model
grade of 5.47 g/t across three separate mining campaigns last seems to be working well and we’re getting results.”
century. Current resources over the project area total 2.4mt @
Passmore said the company would likely target development of a
2.97 g/t gold for 1.19 moz.
small starter pit at Grace for short-term cash flow, with processing
Passmore said having greater control of the project was an to take place at one of the three nearby mills in the district,
important next step for his company to take. although production via its own modular plant is also an option
“We had up until June 2021 to do that, however, we are doing under consideration.
it a lot earlier than we have to because we want to advance the Rox currently has mining engineers assessing which parts of the australiannickelconference.com
project,” Passmore told GMJ. historic plant on its licence can be salvaged for such an exercise.
To present, exhibit or attend as a delegate please contact Mitchelle Matambo
“Some of the feedback we had from institutions was that they
on (+61) 8 9321 0355 or email mitchelle@paydirt.com.au
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