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International iron ore company Centaurus Metals Limited reported a 65 per cent increase in the JORC compliant resource estimate for its flagship Jambreiro Iron Ore Project in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil to 116.5 million tonnes grading 26.8% Fe, laying the foundations for what is expected to be the Company’s first iron ore project development.
The updated JORC Resource estimate (combined Measured, Indicated and Inferred), which follows the highly successful drilling programs completed this year, comprises 67 million tonnes of friable mineralisation and 49.5 million tonnes of compact mineralisation. The new resource provides the platform for the current Pre-Feasibility Study on the Jambreiro Project, which is on track for completion in November 2011 based on an initial 2Mtpa operation producing a +65% Fe final product for sale into the domestic steel industry in south-eastern Brazil. Beneficiation test work on resource grade mineralisation has so far demonstrated that both the friable and compact mineralisation types can be beneficiated to a high quality hematite product to suit the various customers and markets, ranging from a premium 67% Fe product with less than 2% silica to the more economical 63% Fe product with less than 5% silica, at mass recoveries of 35% to 40%. In addition, the beneficiated product from Jambreiro is expected to have very low phosphorus grades ranging between 0.01% and 0.02% P and low alumina grades ranging between 0.7% and 0.9% Al2O3. Ore characterisation and beneficiation test work is ongoing for both mineralisation types, with both responding well to magnetic separation circuits, indicating the potential to provide operational and price flexibility by using this beneficiation process. Centaurus’ intention is to undertake the plant design at Jambreiro to tailor the iron and silica grades for individual customer requirements. A 6-tonne sample of friable mineralisation is currently being tested in the planned process flowsheet and the results will assist in further confirming the product specifications for the domestic steel industry. Importantly, 72.1 million tonnes grading 27.6% Fe of the overall Jambreiro resource base is now classified in the Measured and Indicated categories. This represents 62 per cent of the total Resource and provides an excellent base for the upcoming Jambreiro JORC Ore Reserve estimate. This Measured and Indicated Resource represents 25 to 28Mt of high grade (+65% Fe) product at a mass recovery of 35% to 40%. More information, click here. |
