--- title: "Rockfire Resources boosts Molaoi zinc grade by 132.5% in preliminary ore sorting tests" publisher: "Share Talk" author: "sharetalk" published: "2026-11-13T07:16:25+00:00" modified: "2026-11-13T07:16:25+00:00" date: 2026-11-13 canonical: "https://www.share-talk.com/rockfire-resources-boosts-molaoi-zinc-grade-by-132-5-in-preliminary-ore-sorting-tests/" category: "Mining" categories: ["Mining"] tags: ["Australia", "David Price", "Emirates Gold DMCC", "Gold", "gold system", "Greece", "JORC", "Lighthouse", "maiden", "mineral", "Molaoi", "North Queensland", "resource", "Rock", "Rockfire Resources"] image: "https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/7bf59304-da43-4978-b0cf-094d3e31334f.png?fit=1727%2C911&quality=80&ssl=1" format: "news" language: "en-GB" --- # Rockfire Resources boosts Molaoi zinc grade by 132.5% in preliminary ore sorting tests **Published:** November 13, 2026 **Author:** sharetalk **Categories:** Mining **Tags:** Australia, David Price, Emirates Gold DMCC, Gold, gold system, Greece, JORC, Lighthouse, maiden, mineral, Molaoi, North Queensland, resource, Rock, Rockfire Resources **Featured image:** ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/7bf59304-da43-4978-b0cf-094d3e31334f.png?fit=1727%2C911&quality=80&ssl=1) --- [Rockfire Resources plc (LON: ROCK)](https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/rockfire-resources--rock/molaoi-update/9873538) has reported encouraging preliminary ore sorting results at its wholly owned Molaoi zinc deposit in Greece, with testing by TOMRA Mining increasing the zinc grade from 5.85% to 13.6%, representing a 132.5% uplift.including X-Ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting technology in the project’s processing flowsheet, aiming to separate The results support the potential inclusion of **X-Ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting technology** in the project’s processing flowsheet, with the aim of separating zinc-rich material from lower-grade rock before conventional mineral processing. **The initial feed grade of 5.85% zinc was upgraded to 13.6% in the first sorting stage**, with the high-density product accounting for **34.5% of the original feed mass**. A second sorting stage produced material grading **11.7% zinc**, representing a **99.5% improvement** over the original feed grade, with cumulative mass recovery reaching 46.8%. The third stage recovered additional material grading **9.9% zinc**, equivalent to a **69.7% grade uplift**, bringing the cumulative mass pull to **57.7%**. Importantly, **the combined sorting process recovered 97.7% of the zinc contained in the original test feed**, indicating that the technology could potentially reject a substantial proportion of lower-grade material while retaining most of the zinc. These figures describe successive stages of the same sorting process rather than three separate overall recovery results. **The test programme was undertaken by TOMRA Mining using 48 quarter-core samples with a combined weight of approximately 65 kilograms**, representing high-grade, medium-grade and waste material from Molaoi. The samples were crushed to below 25 millimetres and screened at eight millimetres, with the **8–25mm fraction selected for XRT sorting**. The technology uses differences in X-ray absorption to identify particles containing dense minerals, allowing zinc-bearing sulphides to be separated from lower-density waste rock. Rockfire used a cascading approach, progressively adjusting the sorting equipment’s sensitivity to recover material with different density characteristics. **The results indicate that ore sorting could potentially improve the grade of material entering the processing plant**, reducing the amount of waste requiring downstream crushing, grinding and mineral separation. An effective sorting stage could also help offset dilution introduced during underground mining, although this benefit has not yet been demonstrated under commercial operating conditions. **Chief Executive David Price** described the results as a promising first assessment of the technology’s suitability for Molaoi. He highlighted the strong grade improvements and high zinc recovery as encouraging indicators that XRT sorting could form part of the project’s future processing strategy. **The next stage will involve a substantially larger bulk sample for testing under more representative commercial conditions**, with Rockfire indicating that suitable material may be sourced from underground workings once access is restored. The company intends to incorporate the potential ore sorting circuit into the processing flowsheet being evaluated for the forthcoming feasibility study. **Capital and operating costs associated with installing and running the sorting equipment will be assessed**, alongside its potential impact on downstream processing performance and overall project economics. Although the laboratory results are encouraging, **the test involved a relatively small sample and only the selected particle-size fraction was sorted**. Further work will be required to establish how the technology performs across representative ore types, including variations in mineralogy, particle size and zinc grade. The reported **97.7% zinc recovery relates specifically to the ore sorting tests**, not the overall metallurgical recovery that could ultimately be achieved from a commercial processing plant. Rockfire also confirmed that **its maiden JORC-compliant germanium Mineral Resource Estimate is nearing completion**, providing another potential development milestone for Molaoi. Germanium is a strategically important material used in specialist electronics, optical systems and other advanced technologies, potentially adding to the project’s critical minerals significance. **For Rockfire, the successful preliminary sorting tests represent a step towards optimising the Molaoi processing strategy**, with the possibility of increasing feed grades while reducing the volume of material requiring further treatment. The immediate priorities will be **larger-scale TOMRA testing, completion of the germanium resource estimate and further development of the processing flowsheet**. **The 132.5% zinc grade uplift provides encouraging technical evidence, but commercial-scale testing and detailed feasibility work will be necessary before its economic benefits can be established.** --- **Original URL:** https://www.share-talk.com/rockfire-resources-boosts-molaoi-zinc-grade-by-132-5-in-preliminary-ore-sorting-tests/ *Created by [WP Markdown Endpoint](https://wpmarkdownendpoint.com/)*