AKORA Resources Ltd has finalised an extensive magnetic survey at its wholly-owned Satrokala Iron Ore Project in Madagascar spanning approximately 610 kilometres.
The findings expected in the first quarter of 2024 will be instrumental in identifying precise locations for exploratory drilling, scheduled for the second quarter of 2024.
Survey work has investigated a 10-kilometre stretch within the anticipated 30-kilometre strike of iron mineralisation previously discovered. AKORA Resources plans to assess the remaining 20 kilometres of this promising target area in the coming year.
"Cleaner. high-grade ore"
“The Satrokala Project is located just 40 kilometres to the west of our flagship Bekisopa Project which hosts a sizable JORC resource and is the subject of a scoping study to be released later this month,” AKORA managing director and CEO Paul Bibby said.
“Satrokala is potentially a major component of our strategy to produce cleaner, high-grade iron ore for traditional steelmaking in blast furnaces but also for the manufacture of greener steel in Direct Reduced Iron-Electric Arc Furnaces which typically require iron grades above 67%.
“Rock chips collected at Satrokala last year returned grades over 64% iron and confirmed the need for further geological exploration. This magnetic survey is the next step towards confirming a potentially extensive iron region at the project,” he said.
Satrokala general countryside and rock chip samples collected and assayed in mid-2022. Rock chip sample TA468, assay number V2138, average iron grade 64.63%.
Potential premium grade
AKORA is developing the Bekisopa, Satrokala, Tratramarina and Ambodilafa projects, all iron ore prospects in Madagascar where the company holds 308 square kilometres of tenements across these three prospective exploration areas.
Bekisopa Iron Ore Project is a high-grade iron ore project with about 6 kilometres strike length and an inferred resource of 194.7 million tonnes. Bekisopa has outcropping and weathered zone Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) iron ore and potential to produce a premium grade +68% iron concentrate suitable for Direct Reduced Iron pellets for a green steel future.
The magnetic survey at Satrokala followed high-grade rock chip assays reported at Satrokala in June 2022.
This survey was conducted using the same equipment and approach as employed at Bekisopa in October 2019.
Three magnetometer units were used and a team of seven geologists walked the extent of the tenements under the supervision of Planetary Geophysics, Australia.
Survey data will now be assessed in Australia.