Turkey-focused gold and copper exploration and development company Tigris Resources will be rebranded as Royal Road Minerals (RRM) on April 10 and subsequently list on the TSX-V under this name.

After the listing, the Company aims to further drill-test its flagship Gömeç gold project, in western Turkey, and its Pertek gold project, in the east of the country.

Company CEO Dr Tim Coughlin tells Mining Weekly he hopes that the listing will provide RRM with access to more funds to undertake exploration work and potentially grow the company.

He points out that the company has to date raised $2-million to undertake these activities through the listing process.

The company is undertaking early-stage exploration work at its flagship Gömeç gold deposit, in the Balikesir region of western Turkey.

RRM’s Turkish joint venture partner, Ore Mine Resources, initially undertook drilling at the site in 2012, with Tigris completing the second round of drilling in December 2014.

“This round of drilling returned some of the best intersections at Gömeç so far, including 76 m at 1 g/t gold, (with 24 m at 2 g/t gold and 18.7 g/t silver); 56 m at 1 g/t, (with 22 m at 2 g/t gold and 15.6 g/t silver) and 40 m at 1 g/t gold, in contiguous drillholes which are located 100 m away from each other” says Coughlin.

“The Gömeç project area is about 7 km long and about 3 km wide and we have barely scratched the surface,” he adds.

Although the company will also undertake more drilling works on the site soon, Coughlin notes that since the last round of drilling, the company has been undertaking mapping and geophysical work to better define the site’s gold distribution. As a result, previously undiscovered gold occurrences have been found throughout the site.

The next round of drilling is scheduled to take place in July, during which the company aims to drill about 4 000 m to 5 000 m.

RRM is also in the early stages of exploring several other sites in Turkey, including the Pertek copper and gold prospect, in Tunceli province; and the East Anatolian Plateau Exploration programme, in the most eastern part of Turkey.