  We present the first results from our Red Optical Planet Survey (ROPS) to
search for low mass planets orbiting late type dwarfs (M5.5V - M9V) in their
habitable zones (HZ). Our observations, with the red arm of the MIKE
spectrograph (0.5 - 0.9 microns) at the 6.5 m Magellan Clay telescope at Las
Campanas Observatory indicate that >= 92 per cent of the flux lies beyond 0.7
microns. We use a novel approach that is essentially a hybrid of the
simultaneous iodine and ThAr methods for determining precision radial
velocities. We apply least squares deconvolution to obtain a single high S/N
ratio stellar line for each spectrum and cross correlate against the
simultaneously observed telluric line profile, which we derive in the same way.
  Utilising the 0.62 - 0.90 micron region, we have achieved an r.m.s. precision
of 10 m/s for an M5.5V spectral type star with spectral S/N ~160 on 5 minute
timescales. By M8V spectral type, a precision of ~30 m/s at S/N = 25 is
suggested, although more observations are needed. An assessment of our errors
and scatter in the radial velocity points hints at the presence of stellar
radial velocity variations. Of our sample of 7 stars, 2 show radial velocity
signals at 6-sigma and 10-sigma of the cross correlation uncertainties. If the
signals are planetary in origin, our findings are consistent with estimates of
Neptune mass planets that predict a frequency of 13 - 27 per cent for early M
dwarfs.Our current analysis indicates the we can achieve a sensitivity that is
equivalent to the amplitude induced by a 6 M_Earth planet orbiting in the
habitable zone. Based on simulations, we estimate that <10 M_Earth habitable
zone planets will be detected in a new stellar mass regime, with <=20 epochs of
observations.
