Rome Resources: everything you need to know

‘From there, they bring tin, which our merchants collect.’

— Herodotus, on African metals trading.

Well not really. Tin for the Empire came predominantly from Cornwall and parts of the Iberian Peninsula, but I felt like starting with a quote from the famous Roman historian. 

After all, all roads lead to Rome.

Today we’re taking a look at Rome Resources, which in my view could be a strong portfolio addition for the second half of 2024 and beyond. I’m breaking a couple of rules by backing Rome; to start with, the flagship deposit is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (often known by the acronym DROC or the initialism DRC). * 

Second, the metal the team is looking for is predominantly tin, though the area is also prospective for copper and various other by-credits. Tin pricing is extremely volatile because the market for the metal is very small — pricing assumptions can and do change at pace.

Long-time readers will know that I am wary of DROC as a jurisdiction, and of investing in tin explorers or producers — only making an exception for either, where there is an exceptional investment case. 

To invest in a company exploring for tin in DROC, I’d need to see an outstanding deposit, a seriously experienced management team, and most importantly, the skill to navigate politics in a country where regulation is arguably weaker than neighbouring jurisdictions.

Enter Rome Resources. It really is just that good. 

At this point, if you’re considering closing this window, the last company I covered from the early days was Guardian (formerly Golden) Metal Resources. 

And as Tony Stark once said, ‘it’s worked out pretty well so far.’

Okay, enough quotes.

Let’s dive in.

* An acronym is pronounced as a word; an initialism sees you pronounce each letter separately.

Bisie North — let’s consider. There are two parallel tin in soil anomalies, defined over some five kilometres on licences PEPM 13274 & PR 15130:

• Mount Agoma
• Kalayi

Mont Agoma

The Mont Agoma Prospect has demonstrated exceptional potential for high-grade tin mineralisation through both soil sampling and drilling campaigns. The recent soil sampling program revealed significant tin anomalies, with grades up to 0.2% Sn, delineating a high-grade tin anomaly (>80 ppm Sn) extending over 1,000 metres. 

This anomaly presents a compelling target for further exploration and development.

Mont Agoma remains untouched by artisanal mining — a net neutral as it means exploration will not have include any bias but could evidence lack of ‘easy pickings.’ The wider area also exhibits strong geochemical support for copper, silver, zinc, lead, gold and arsenic akin to the mineralisation found at Mpama (excluding gold).

A targeted drilling program was conducted on the known 1,000-meter high-grade tin anomaly, with 15 diamond holes completed for a total of 2,938 meters, covering a 300-metre strike length. 

This drilling identified a significant sulphide mineralised system over a width of between 200 and 250 metres. Tin mineralisation was present in all drill holes, with multiple mineralized shear zones — including a discrete tin zone in the northeast, a central tin, copper, and zinc zone, and a zinc zone in the southwest. 

The mineralisation also remains open to the northwest, to the southeast, and at depth — indicating significant potential for further discoveries. Happy days.

The assay results from priority samples have defined high-grade polymetallic mineralisation at the upper levels and suggest high-grade tin mineralisation at deeper levels. Key results include 11.25 meters @ 0.51% Sn and include 2.25 meters @ 1.06% Sn from 5.75 meters in hole MADD004. 

Significant copper mineralisation was found with 41 meters @ 3.52% Cu from 139 metres, including 13.15 metres at 7.8% Cu from 143.85 meters in hole MADD010A. Silver assays revealed 15.15 metres at 57.74 g/t Ag from 143.85 metres in the same hole, while zinc mineralization showed 160.5 metres at 3.3% Zn, including 90 metres at 4.17% Zn from 77.5 metres in hole MADD002.

Accordingly, Rome argues that the Mont Agoma prospect shows geological similarities to the San Rafael mine in Peru, famous for its high-grade copper and base metals at surface levels, with tin mineralisation at deeper levels. 

This is important for two reasons (beyond the obvious): first, the planned drilling at deeper levels has a very good chance of intersecting even more significant tin mineralisation. And second, the economics to a potential buyer/developer/Rome itself, is that you can get operating profitably from surface mining to start with, and then enjoy diversified revenue streams once into the deeper orebody that protects you somewhat from tin’s price volatility.

Kalayi

The Kalayi prospect has also thrown off a potentially significant tin discovery, supported by both soil sampling and drilling. The soil sampling identified a 2,000-metre tin-in-soil anomaly with concentrations exceeding 40 ppm Sn. Channel sampling in artisanal workings have revealed high-grade tin mineralisation, including up to 1 metre at 11% Sn.

That’s a sensational grade.

Then there’s the assay results — three of the four holes drilled at Kalayi indicate substantial tin mineralisation. 

In hole KBDD003, notable results included 12.5 metres at 1.06% Sn, with intervals of 2.5 metres at 3.39% Sn and 0.5 metres at 11.7% Sn from 41.5 metres. Additionally, this hole recorded 1 metre at 1.11% Sn from 59 meters and 3 metres at 1.92% Sn, including 0.4 metres at 12.85% Sn from 70 meters. 

Hole KBDD002 also showed promising results, with 0.8 meters at 1.32% Sn from 30.6 metres and 2.5 metres at 2.60% Sn, including 0.5 metres at 7.15% Sn from 79 metres. 

These results were all obtained from drilling beneath artisanal workings — which goes back to my original comment.

Drilling at Kalayi targeted a 150-metre section of the 2,000-metre tin-in-soil anomaly. Unlike Mont Agoma, no significant copper or zinc mineralization was associated with the tin at Kalayi, making it more comparable to Alphamin's Mpama mineralisation. 

The findings suggest considerable potential for further significant tin mineralization both at depth and along the remaining 2,000-metrw strike length.

Future exploration efforts at the Kalayi Prospect will focus on delineating tin within the mineralised zone, following the promising results akin to those observed at Mpama North and South.

It’s really important to highlight the differences between the two targets; while both are primarily tin targets, Mont Agoma is polymetallic, and Kalay is pureplay tin — assays should be viewed through this lens and any future surprises (good or bad) that fall outside of this current assessment would merit a thorough explanation.

Alphamin is the obvious potential buyer of any significant find (there’s been enough 

drilling to know that tin’s there — this is about whether it’s going to be a mid-tier or top-tier resource). 

Here’s the context:

The mineralisation at Kalayi is showing characteristics similar to Alphamin’s Mpama South, which has a known tin resource of 148,900 tonnes. High-grade tin has been intersected at Kalayi, while Mont Agoma has shown low-grade tin in the upper levels, along with high-grade, near-surface zinc and copper mineralisation. 

This contrasts with the zinc and anomalous copper mineralisation observed in the upper levels at Mpama South. Additionally, drilling intersections at Mont Agoma occur at a higher topographic level compared to Mpama South. Further, the mineralisation at Mpama North and South is noted for its strong shoot geometry, a characteristic which is also expected to be found at Mont Agoma and Kalayi.

Tin remains an essential critical mineral — with further use cases driven by AI and EV growth. Top global producers including China, Myamar, Indonesia & Peru are under extant pressure, and further, there is a global lack of undeveloped high-grade projects.

During the 2008 financial crisis, tin stood at around $10,000 per tonne — but subsequently tripled to over $30,000 by 2011 as the global economy recovered. However, by 2015 oversupply and weak demand pushed the price briefly below $14,000.

Three years later, the market rebounded to around $22,000 due to supply shortages and a weak US dollar, but by 2019 tin demand was again declining due to reduced semiconductor demand resulting from ongoing Sino-US trade wars.

The covid-19 pandemic further impacted global trade, causing tin prices to drop to approximately $13,400 per tonne during the March 2020 mini-crash. Nevertheless, the market began recovering as automotive, electronics, and solar industries swiftly rebounded and entered new growth phases. Supply chain disruptions and soaring freight costs further limited tin availability, leading to a price rebound.

In 2021, tin prices surged by nearly 90% to $39,100 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange, marking the largest annual increase since the relaunch of tin trading in 1989.

For context, tin had been suspended for four years, starting from 1985, after the collapse of the International Tin Council, which had attempted to stabilise prices through buying low and selling high using a tin reserve. This led to a market crash when the council ran out of funds.

By November 2021, tin stocks in LME-registered warehouses had hit their lowest levels since 1989 due to strong demand outpacing supply from major producers. Chinese producers faced electricity supply restrictions, Myanmar experienced ore export disruptions due to Covid-19 restrictions and political unrest, and production shutdowns were rife in major producers Malaysia and Indonesia.

The rally in tin prices continued into 2022, with record highs of $50,000 per tonne breached in March as commodity markets reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its potential impact on global supply chains. However, prices have since declined to circa $32,000 per tonne due to high inflation and rapidly rising interest rates that are expected to cause a global slowdown.

Of course, this is a very brief overview, but the key point to understand is that while tin plays a vital role in multiple technologies, its market is much smaller and less liquid than other metals like copper or aluminium. This means that very small changes in supply and demand can massively affect tin prices — which goes some way to explaining volatility.

Rome Resources plans to start drilling in mid-July, with one rig at Kalayi and two at Mount Agoma. From what I understand, they also want one further rig on site, but as long-time readers here will know, quality rigs and competent teams are not ten-a-penny.

Investors should be able to expect updates on drilling every two weeks, including core photos — with first assays likely to land around September. Assays will then come in regularly every few weeks, and hopefully investors will get an inferred resource for both target by early Q1 2025.

Given the asset, management team and potential, this company could be a strong play for 2024 — with months of exploration updates to come.

That’s okay though, Rome wasn’t built in a day.