Royal Road Minerals expands Colombia drilling focus – ICYMI

Royal Road Minerals Ltd (TSX-V:RYR, OTC:RRDMF, FRA:RLU) earlier this week outlined its ongoing exploration strategy in Colombia as CEO Tim Coughlin highlighted the company’s drilling progress, permitting momentum and long-term discovery potential across its portfolio.

Proactive: Let’s begin with the political backdrop in Colombia, where elections are taking place. Given your mining operations there, how could the outcome affect Royal Road Minerals?

Tim Coughlin: We maintain our course. We’ve always tried to remain apolitical but cooperative. Most of our non-technical engagement focuses on community, and there’s nothing more important than that in our sector. Colombia has a strong Congress that’s split down the middle, so whichever side wins still has to work within that structure. Over the last 14 months we’ve experienced a very cooperative and proactive government, particularly through the mining agency, which has helped us advance our projects. It’s important not to reduce Colombia to simplistic political assumptions because what happens institutionally is often very different from what happens on the ground at community level.

You’ve assembled a significant portfolio in Colombia. Where do you see the strongest discovery potential?

The strongest known potential is at GAM, where we’re drilling right now. We’re drilling one porphyry within a broader porphyry cluster and hope to expand drilling across all three systems this year. We see world-class potential there. In terms of unknown promise, two projects really stand out — El Molino in Caldas and La Llanada in Nariño. El Molino hosts three intrusion-related gold systems within about 15 square kilometres, while La Llanada is an entire gold field with flat, high-grade gold mineralised veins over roughly 250 square kilometres.

What are the company’s immediate priorities?

We’ve just completed a small round of work at Quinta to re-establish our footprint on the ground and understand current conditions. We’re also awaiting results from Margaritas, another porphyry project. The primary focus for the rest of the year is drilling and advancing toward a resource stage by year-end. We’re also hoping to secure the support and access needed to move some of the other projects forward.

You recently had some permitting success. Does that suggest Colombia is becoming more supportive of mining development?

Yes, I think the last 14 months have actually been very positive for operators in Colombia. There appears to be a shift toward supporting responsibly managed extractive industries. We recently secured a permit ourselves, and Cordoba Minerals — where our board member Sarah Armstrong-Montoya is CEO — received an environmental permit for an open-pit copper mine. That was a significant development.

Your projects span multiple regions in Colombia. Is southern Colombia still the major focus?

We divide the country into northern and southern blocks based on geological and socio-political characteristics. The southern block is socially more complicated and requires political will to advance projects. The northern block, including Antioquia and Caldas, has incredible geological potential and is a great place to work despite some security challenges. Colombia still has hurdles to overcome, but it has enormous potential.

You still sound very enthusiastic about the company’s future.

Absolutely. We suspended activities in Colombia at the end of 2022 partly because permits were delayed and partly because a large shareholder wanted to exit its position. That created a difficult period lasting more than two years. Since September last year, however, things have improved significantly. Rio2 is now a 15% shareholder and that has brought fresh energy and momentum back to the company.

Quotes have been lightly edited for style and clarity