15 Oct 2014 07:00
Rose Petroleum plc (AIM: ROSE)
("Rose" or the "Company")
Drilling to commence on TC porphyry copper project in JV with Lowell Copper Ltd.
Rose Petroleum plc, the AIM-listed (Ticker: ROSE) natural resources company, is pleased to announce that drilling is scheduled to start on 15 October 2014 on the TC porphyry copper project located in the State of New Mexico, USA. The TC project operator is Rose Petroleum's wholly owned subsidiary AVEN Associates LLC ("AVEN").
Highlights:
· Drill programme fully funded by Lowell Copper ltd
· Drill permits in place
· Drilling commenced
AVEN has secured the pertinent permits from the USDA Forest Service, New Mexico Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Department's Mining & Minerals Division, and the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer. Drilling has been contracted through Holman Drilling Company and will consist of a combination of rotary and core. The initial drilling programme will consist of one to two holes drilled to projected depths of 2,000 feet. The second hole will be drilled depending on the results of the first hole. The programme is expected to take about one month. Additional drill holes will be planned and permitted, should the initial drilling prove successful.
Matthew Idiens, CEO, said, "With the TC project funded entirely through the earn in by Lowell Copper Ltd, it is a great opportunity for us to work with Dave Lowell and his team and we look forward to the programme moving ahead. As Dave commented back in March, this small programme should quickly reveal whether there is potential for buried mineralization. The results of the programme should be available next month and we will update the market at that time."
Background to the TC Project
The TC Project is operated under a joint venture agreement (the "JV" or "Agreement") between TSX-listed Lowell Copper Ltd. ("LCL" or "Lowell Copper") and AVEN as announced on 4 March 2014. The project was developed out of AVEN's porphyry copper Covered Area Program ("CAP"). LCL will fund the total cost of the initial exploration phase and the first US$250,000 spent will earn a 25% stake in the project.
After completion of the initial exploration phase, LCL will have an option to increase its interest to 51% by funding the next US$2,500,000 of the exploration programme and a further option to increase to a 70% interest by investing an additional US$3,500,000 at which point LCL's total investment in the JV will be US$6,250,000 for a 70% interest.
Should LCL elect to limit its investment to a 51% interest, then AVEN and LCL would fund the programme according to their percentage interests or be diluted according to standard dilution terms with LCL being credited with 51% valued at US$2,750,000 and AVEN 49% at US$2,642,000 as the starting point for dilution. Should either party drop below a 10% interest that interest reverts to a 1% free-carry.
The term of the JV is four years or until the exploration programme is completed under mutual agreement. The TC Project's area of interest covers approximately 25 square miles (64 sq.km).
The TC Project is located in New Mexico along the well-known Hillsboro-Chino-Tyrone-Lordsburg-Bisbee porphyry copper belt. The project is a CAP (Covered Area Project) target with porphyry copper-style characteristics including quartz veins, propyllitic and argillic alteration and base and precious metals mineralisation identified in outcrop along the margins of the covered terrain. Sampling by AVEN of altered and mineralized rock has returned assay values up to 3,896 ppm Cu, 84 ppm Mo, 4,876 ppm Pb, 1,997 ppm Zn, 24 g/t Au, and 204 g/t Ag.
Lowell Copper Ltd.
Lowell Copper is a copper exploration and development focused company led by J. David Lowell and is listed on the TSX-V. The Company was founded to leverage the current market conditions and build a portfolio of economic copper projects through a combination of exploration, mergers and acquisitions by utilizing the considerable experience and success of management and directors of the Company. Dave Lowell has been credited with 15 major discoveries:
CHILE
LA ESCONDIDA; World's largest copper mine, operated by BHP Billiton
ZALDIVAR; Copper deposit containing over 10 billion pounds of resources. Owned and operated by Barrick Gold.
SAN CRISTOBAL; 1 million ounce gold deposit
ECUADOR
MIRADOR; Copper/gold deposit with over 18 billion pounds of copper & 8 million ounces of gold.
WARINTZA; Copper/Molybendum deposit with 1.8 billion pounds of copper.
PERU
PIERINA; 8 million ounce gold deposit. Acquired by Barrick Gold for over US$1 billion.TOROMOCHO; Copper expansion project that was acquired by Chinalco, China's largest mining company, for US$850 million.
PHILIPPINES
DIZON; Copper/gold deposit containing 750 million pounds of copper and 2 million ounces of gold.
FAR SOUTHEAST; Copper/gold deposit with 9.8 billion pounds of copper and 20 million ounces of gold.LEPANTO; Copper/gold deposit with 1.6 billion pounds of copper and 3 million ounces of gold.
USA
CASA GRANDE; 7 billion pound copper deposit.
KALAMAZOO; 12.8 billion pound copper deposit
For further information, please contact:
Rose Petroleum Plc +44 (0) 20 3697 1209
Matthew Idiens
CEO
Allenby Capital (Nominated Adviser & Broker) +44 (0) 20 3328 5656Jeremy Porter / Alex Price
Pareto Securities (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 207 786 4370
Guy Wilkes / Will Slack
Lionsgate Communications (Public Relations) +44 (0) 20 3697 1209Jonathan Charles / Lynn Carratt
About Rose Petroleum
Rose Petroleum plc (AIM Ticker: ROSE) is focusing on developing its oil & gas portfolio, while seeking to create value from its existing mining portfolio.
In March 2014, Rose signed a farm-in agreement under which its newly formed subsidiary, Rose Petroleum (Utah) LLC, can earn 75% of certain oil, gas and hydrocarbon leases covering approximately 230,000 net acres in Grand and Emery Counties, Utah, USA, within the Paradox and Uinta basins.
In May 2014, Rose published the results of its reserve report prepared by Ryder Scott Company on the Mancos and Paradox Oil & Gas Projects. Unrisked Prospective (Recoverable) Hydrocarbon Resources on a Best Case (P50 equivalent) basis for the collective total Mancos Shale and Paradox Formation combined was 1,452.86 MMBO (million barrels of oil) and 4,791.85 BCFG (billion cubic feet gas).
In June 2014, the Company successfully raised £6.5m by way of an oversubscribed conditional placing and subscription to develop the Mancos and Paradox assets in Eastern Utah.
Management intends to build on these projects to establish a balanced international asset portfolio. For further information please consult the Company's website: www.rosepetroleum.com