Arrow Minerals Ltd (ASX:AMD) is preparing to begin maiden drilling at the Simandou North Iron Project in Guinea after an initial mapping program visually confirmed the locations of significant iron-bearing formations.
A first-pass reconnaissance program by Arrow’s geological team led by exploration manager Mamadouba Yansane visually identified three lithological units with significant potential to host high-grade iron within the project area.
Work has begun to target shallow high-grade zones for the first phase of drilling early this year.
Iron-rich area
The Simandou area is host to one of the largest undeveloped high-grade iron deposits in the world, represented by Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) Simfer’s Simandou Project, which holds a total measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate of 2 billion tonnes grading 65.5% iron.
The three lithologies comprising siliceous haematite, goethite haematite and haematite-rich canga mapped by Arrow’s field geologists compare favourably with historical geophysical data and imagery previously detailed by Cope et. al. in 2005 at Rio Tinto’s Pic de Fon iron deposit.
“We have mapped the (three lithological) units over a considerable extent of the project area,” Arrow’s managing director Hugh Bresser said.
“Next step is to integrate this latest geological information with the reprocessed geophysics to define our first round of drill targets.”
The Simandou North Iron Project permit map showing Simandou lithological units overlying the historical geophysical magnetic image.
Improving understanding
Parallel to the fieldwork, the company has secured raw historical airborne magnetic survey data flown in 2007.
These were acquired at no cost, which is a massive saving for the company in terms of time and money.
The data has been passed on to Mira Geoscience, an independent Australia-based geophysical company specialising in iron exploration, for reprocessing using advanced geophysical software packages, including 3D inversion technology.
Using the newly acquired geological information, Mira will improve the understanding and modelling of the target areas with an initial focus on shallow high-grade zones.
Major infrastructure
As its name implies, the Simandou North Iron Ore Project lies at the northern end of the Simandou Range and forms an extension of the stratigraphy that hosts one of the largest undeveloped high-grade iron deposits in the world.
The Government of Guinea, Rio Tinto Simfer and Winning Consortium created a joint venture company La Compagnie du TransGuinéen (CTG) in July last year, to co-develop the megaproject requiring the construction of the 670-kilometre TransGuinean railway, extending from the Simandou Ranges to Forécariah on the coast, where a deepwater port and ship loading infrastructure will be built.
This US$15 billion major capital investment is set to deliver shared-purpose infrastructure to the area and is expected to be completed by December 2024, enabling commercial production from mines in the area by 2025.
On January 5 this year, a term sheet for the financing, development, construction and operation of the rail and port infrastructure was signed by the partners, including the Guinean government, Rio Tinto, Chinalco, Winning Consortium and Baowu Group, for the multi-purpose and multi-user infrastructure project.
Arrow’s strategy
“The continued combined commitment between government and industry to implement this major capital project provides confidence to Arrow that the infrastructure will be present to enable Arrow to potentially establish itself as a major West African mining company,” Bresser said.
“Simandou North Iron Project allows Arrow to participate in the development of an area where, until now, mineral wealth has been locked up due to infrastructural constraints.”
Arrow has beneficial rights of 33.3% in the Simandou North Project and can acquire up to a 60.5% controlling interest within 24 months.
The company aims to systematically advance the project over the coming months to identify areas of high-grade iron within the project area.