IC2 Global wins exploration licence
Posted: 7 September 2006
IC2 Global Limited reported that an exploration licence has been granted for its magnetite Victory Bore project in Western Australia.
Victory Bore lies within the same area east of Geraldton which this week attracted Precious Metals Australia to a local alliance of iron ore players as well as plans by the private Yilgarn Infrastructure group for a $2 billion rail and port development to service iron ore mines in the region.
The granted exploration licence announced today (E.L. 57/550) covers 160 square kilometres between the gold mining centres of Sandstonre and Youranmi and will be traversed by a major gas pipeline.
IC2 Global, which is undertaking a three stage farm-in to the prospect with the licence holder Mutual Holding Pty Ltd, now has 12 months to complete a pre-feasibility study and conduct an initial drilling program.
Stage Three, to commence at the option of IC2, will see the project move to a minimum 50 million tonne JORC compliant Inferred resource of iron ore.
“The timing of the application grant could not have been better, coming amid ongoing strong global demand and equally strong interest by overseas steel investors in new iron ore projects in Australia,” IC2 Global’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Rodger Johnston, said.
“Critically, we can now get on with the job of proving up Victory Bore and adding it to the emerging number of successful iron ore explorers moving to producer status in the Mid-West and establishing its credentials as a genuine alternative to historic provinces such as the Pilbara,” Mr Johnston said.
“The ore bodies may not be as well known as the Pilbara but they are of sufficient size, scope, grade and shallow depth to allow a good margin, steady cash flow contribution to the national iron ore sector.”
An independent expert, Mr John Wyatt, earlier this year suggested Victory Bore could support up to 48 million tonnes of iron ore, with that quantity doubled if drilling extended to a depth of 100 metres.
Ultimately, if the mineralization occurred along the whole of the 25 kms strike length of both horizons of the identified magnetic anomaly, then the scale of the project may conceivably be up to 500 million tonnes.
Mr Wyatt’s study identified a target exploration tonnage of between 30-48 million tonnes of iron ore following an assessment of Victory Bore’s Rotary Air Blast and diamond reconnaissance drilling data which returned a best value of 49 m grading 34.4 per cent Fe2O3.
The result was based on using a total strike length of 6,000 metre for Victory Bore’s two main magnetite-rich horizons, a mineralised width of between 25-40 metres, an initial mining depth of 50 metres and a SG (specific gravity) of 4.0.
Mr Johnston said Victory Bore’s tonnages compared very favourably with the 20 Mt @ 63.6 per cent Fe profile for the Tallering Peak iron ore project, 350 kilometres to the west of Victory Bore, and the 12 Mt @ 58 per cent-63 per cent Fe of Mount Gibson, 200 kilometres to the southwest.
Victory Bore also has potential for gold and vanadium deposits.
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com
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