11th Sep 2015 07:06
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sula Iron and Gold PLC Friday said it has identified new iron ore targets at the Ferensola project in Sierra Leone which may yield up to an extra 150 million tonnes of iron mineralisation.
The miner said it has identified additional banded iron formation targets at the 153.0 square kilometre project after conducting a mapping campaign on a magnetic target located to the southeast of the Ferensola project licence area.
Banded iron formations, also known as banded ironstone formations, are distinctive units of sedimentary rock that are almost always of Precambrian age and consist of repeated thin layers containing iron oxides.
The new targets are within the area covered by the projects JORC mineral resource estimate of 514.5 million tonnes at 31.8% iron, including a total oxide resource of 55.5 million tonnes at 45.39% iron.
The area that hopsts the new targets has approximately 2 kilometres of untested material with the potential to host a conceptual tonnage of between 100.0 to 150.0 million tonnes of banded iron formation mineralisation. This is in addition to the 100.0 to 250.0 million tonnes previously identified by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd.
"It should be noted that these tonnages are conceptual in nature and indicate an order of magnitude and that they do not currently meet the criteria of a mineral resource," it said.
Sula Iron said the ground magnetic data applied in the area where the new targets are located are in line with other projects in the region, specifically the Tonkolili iron project, which is contiguous with Ferensola.
The Tonkolli project was 75% owned by fellow-listed African Minerals Ltd until it had to forfeit its stake to its lenders after failing to repay debt.
"Upon cessation of the current rainy season, and the commencement of the upcoming scout drilling campaign on the Ferensola gold project, it is the Board's intention to undertake further more detailed mapping and sampling activities to aid potential future exploration planning," said Sula.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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