Aurumin Ltd (ASX:AUN) is celebrating the discovery of a 6-kilometre strike of discontinuous banded iron formation at the Central Sandstone Project, part of the flagship Sandstone Gold Operations in Western Australia.
The company has fielded rock chip samples grading up to 67% iron (Fe), exceeding the 60% basement on direct shipping ore grades.
Direct shipping ore (DSO) is iron ore of high enough quality that it can be fed directly into a blast furnace, requiring only simple crushing and screening before shipping.
The iron ore target sits close to the main sealed road through the Sandstone Project, infrastructure already being used to haul DSO iron ore to port.
Prime location on haul route
“These are great results and represent a real discovery. There is a 6-kilometre strike of banded iron outcrops with potential widths of 5 to 40 metres requiring further exploration,” Aurumin managing director Brad Valiukas said.
“First pass rock chip sampling returned numerous high-grade DSO quality results, with a peak of 67% and represent an exciting complementary opportunity at Central Sandstone.
“Full credit to the team for identifying and working up this opportunity.
“This potential has been walked over by generations of operators and we are delighted to bring it forward. Sandstone is already on the haulage route for iron ore producers to the Geraldton Port.
“Aurumin’s focus is firmly on Sandstone and generating the critical mass required for future production.
“The close proximity of the iron ore to some of our gold deposits, not to mention the potential value of the iron ore itself, could significantly alter the project economics.
“We are already spoilt for targets and this adds a big one into the mix.”
With the complementary synergies of this iron ore target alongside Aurumin’s suite of gold prospects in mind, the company is planning a drilling program to test the high-grade iron formations.
Overview of iron ore rock chips and mapping.
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