Rockridge Resources: New Copper and Battery Metals Play

Peter Epstein of Epstein Research reviews the prospects of this company and its Knife Lake Project in Saskatchewan.

Rockridge Resources Ltd. (ROCK:TSX.V) is a new copper + base metals explorer, (25.4M shares outstanding, CA$6.5M market cap, CA$2M cash, CA$4.5M enterprise value EV) searching in Canadian jurisdictions. More specifically, the focus is base, green energy and battery metals, of which copper is all three! Not just any place in Canada, in world-class mining jurisdictions such as Saskatchewan. And, not just good jurisdictions, but in mining camps with significant past exploration, development or production in close proximity to key mining infrastructure.

Rockridge wants to avoid project risks like geopolitical, (lack of) infrastructure, security, skilled labor, community support, etc., so that it can better capture the anticipated upside in the price of copper, plus select other metals. For true copper bulls like Robert Friedland and Gianni Kovacevic, this isn't about US$3/pound ($US3/lb) copper going to US$3.5/lb by year-end. No, we're talking about a longer-term price of between US$4-US$6/lb., as soon as 2020 or 2021. In that scenario, if it transpires, you want to be in companiesexactlylike Rockridge Resources.

The Knife Lake Project in Saskatchewan
85,000 hectares (85,000 ha) is pretty damn big see the green-shaded image above. Flagship project Knife Lake is the kind of asset Rockridge Resources wants to own. It's large, and in Saskatchewan, (ranked #3 of 84 global mining jurisdictions in the latest Fraser Institute Mining Survey). Over CA$1.6 billion has been invested into roads, rail, power and water infrastructure to facilitate rapid development of discoveries. In 1997, Leader Mining published a (non-NI-43-101-compliant) resource estimate on the shallow deposit. Twenty million tonnes (20 Mt) grading 0.6% copper, 0.1 grams per ton (g/t) gold, 3 g/t silver, 0.06% cobalt and 0.11% zinc. A high-grade zone contained 11 Mt at 0.75% copper. Historical drilling includes a hole with a 60-meter (60 m) intercept of 1.37% copper, 5.1 g/t silver, 115 ppm cobalt and 1,182 ppm zinc.

The -roject is within the world-famous Flin Flon-Snow Lake mining district, which contains a prolific volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) base metals belt. Management paid