8th Jun 2015 08:18
LONDON (Alliance News) - Beowulf Mining PLC shares rose on Monday after it said it has produced "super high grade" concentrates from the Kallak North prospect in northern Sweden that will benefit from higher prices.
Beowulf shares were up 45% to 2.51 pence per share on Monday morning.
The "super" high-grade magnetite concentrate has over 71% iron content and "very low" levels of deleterious elements such as silica, alumina, phosphorous and sulphur. Beowulf said the characteristics of the concentrate are important for "key" target markets in Europe and the Middle East. It will also be used in the chemical industry, with higher-quality iron units benefiting from manufacturing productivity and from environmental benefits, it said in a statement.
Beowulf said the test results support the case for the company to make a "Kallak super concentrate" which will achieve a "significant price premium" over benchmark iron ore prices. In 2014, concentrate with a 65% iron content achieved around USD40 per tonne more than concentrates with 62% iron content, both considerably lower than the 71% iron content achieved in the latest tests by Beowulf.
The company also discovered high-grade hematite concentrate with over 68% iron content, which it said was ideal as a sinter feed blend. Sinter is a small, irregular nodule of iron mixed with small amounts of other minerals, which is made by combining iron ore dust with other materials at high temperatures.
"The programme has delivered a 'super' high grade magnetite concentrate, with the added bonus of a high-grade hematite concentrate, which is what our metallurgical consultants predicted," said Chief Executive Kurt Budge.
"With an enhanced understanding of the high quality products that can be produced from Kallak, we can now build on our understanding of the positioning and pricing of 'Kallak Super-con' in the markets we are targeting, and seek to realize the significant premiums paid for higher quality iron units," he added.
Beowulf has collected tailing samples to be tested, which will determine the engineering properties for 'dry-stack' tailings storage, with a view to minimising the tailings footprint in the mine design, it said.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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