Royal Road Minerals has secured all necessary drilling permits for its Alouana copper-gold polymetallic project in Morocco’s eastern region.
The right to acquire the Alouana project is held by Royal Road Arabia (RRA), a joint venture equally owned by Royal Road Minerals and Saudi Arabian investment holding company MIDU Company.
The Alouana project, spanning 84km², is known for its historic small-scale mining activities.
With approximately 45 copper-gold polymetallic workings identified, the project holds potential for substantial mineral deposits.
No previous drilling has been conducted at Alouana, but recent preparatory work by RRA has set the stage for upcoming exploration.
This includes soil geochemical sampling and geological mapping to pinpoint initial scout drill-holes.
The drilling campaign will target four principal areas, namely Open Pit Zone (OPZ), Hill Top Zone (HTZ), Vein-Breccia Zone and Eastern Breccia Zone (EBZ).
The company has outlined plans for approximately 2,000m of scout exploration drilling. This operation is scheduled to begin as soon as the necessary infrastructure such as access roads and drill pads is in place.
Royal Road president and CEO Tim Coughlin said: “Establishing the thickness of shallow-dipping mineralisation at the OPZ is an important initial objective of this drilling programme, followed closely by mapping its lateral extent towards the south-west at the HTZ.
“Both areas are located along the Alouana hilltop with the potential for good mining economics. Historic tunnels at the EBZ are for the most part concealed at surface and developed along the vein-breccia bodies only, with minimal crosscuts.
“This makes it difficult to ascertain potential economic thickness until we have drilled them, although there is clear evidence for copper mineralisation extending beyond the extracted veins and immediately into the wall-rock.
“This drill programme is very much a case of exploring with the drill-rig, objectives are clear and holes have been carefully planned in order to fully test the potential of the mineralised system at Alouana. We are excited to get the programme under way.”
