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(Sharecast News) - Red Rock Resources said on Wednesday that it has signed a non-disclosure agreement and begun due diligence on a privately held copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as it continued to assess licence opportunities under its Koto Red Rock joint venture.
The AIM-traded natural resources group said that, further to announcements in October and November, it and its partners had been reviewing copper-cobalt and gold licences in the DRC, with exploratory meetings held on a number of possibilities.
It said it had now signed an NDA and started a due diligence assessment, involving external consultants, on a potential copper-cobalt mining project in the Kambove region of Katanga.
Under the joint venture's strategy, Red Rock said it had been seeking either a grant through its partnership with government agencies, licences it could take over and hold in its own name, or licences acquired through private treaty.
Separately, the company said a judgment in litigation between Red Rock and VUP remained pending, as previously disclosed, and it remained confident that its position will be upheld.
Outside the DRC, Red Rock Australasia had applied for the renewal of two licences in Victoria, made partial surrenders in relation to one of those licences and a full surrender of a third small, isolated licence.
The firm said it had also brought in another business to share office costs and expected shortly to receive the final draft of a third-party professional assessment of its licences and strategic options, while discussions with potential regional partners had started.
In Kenya, the company said it had progressed renewal discussions on its gold assets through its local representative and hoped to reach an outcome that would allow activities to restart with the aim of obtaining production licences.
"The DRC licence on which we have signed an NDA requires some due diligence, following which we will make a further announcement," said chairman Andrew Bell.
"There is a possibility that we may have identified a licence which meets our requirements for all potential copper/cobalt projects in the DRC, which are one, that they should be first class in terms of prospective grade and size; two, that they are with a reliable counterparty that will agree reasonable terms; and three, that they should be able to generate production either immediately or on a short timeframe.
"We continue to review other licence opportunities.
"We see enough opportunities that we shall be able to identify and access quality projects there, as we have done before.
"Dealing with private parties offers the opportunity to move quickly, while the World continues to need more copper."
At 1253 GMT, shares in Red Rock Resources were down 1.13% at 0.03p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.