Petmin invests in Liberian iron ore exploration

Petmin has entered into an agreement with Hummingbird relating to Hummingbird’s Mount Ginka licence.
I-NET BRIDGE, Published: 25 Janurary, 2011

Minerals, mining and processing company Petmin announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement with Hummingbird and its wholly owned subsidiary Iron Bird Resources Inc relating to Hummingbird's Mount Ginka licence for exploration of iron ore in Liberia.
AIM-listed Hummingbird Resources is the largest holder of mineral exploration licences in the eastern part of Liberia, a hitherto unexplored region of Birimian age geology - a province that is known to be highly prospective for the discovery of large scale gold and other mineral deposits.
Hummingbird has sought to capitalise on this prospect through systematic and extensive exploration over the last four years.

Under this agreement Petmin will provide up to a total sum of $2 million for the exploration of the Mount Ginka licence area in a two stage plan to ascertain the commercial viability of the project.
In terms of the agreement, Iron Bird will issue new shares equivalent to 15% of its issued share capital to Petmin for a consideration of US$500,000. This investment is conditional on the transfer of the Mount Ginka licence to Iron Bird.
The First Phase Investment will be used for the purpose of demonstrating whether a commercially saleable magnetite concentrate can be produced. On successful completion of Phase 1 of the Work Programme, Petmin will invest a further $1.5 million in Iron Bird, to increase its shareholding to 50%.

The Second Phase Investment will be utilised to demonstrate the scale of the resource within the licence area.
Phase 1 of the Work Programme will commence with an aeromagnetic survey which has been contracted to be flown shortly. Following this, Phase 1 of the Work Programme is expected to progress with grab sampling, trenching, pitting and scout drilling with the aim of obtaining a representative sample for metallurgical test work.
The Mount Ginka licence area covers approximately 155 square kilometers and is situated in Nimba County in north central Liberia. It is located approximately 15 km south of Yekepa, a major iron ore deposit located at Mt Nimba, which is currently being developed by Accelor-Mittal.

In addition BHP Billiton is undertaking iron ore exploration approximately 30km northwest of Mount Ginka at the Mount Kitoma licence area.
The transaction is subject to the approval of the SARB, JSE, Securities Regulation Panel and the Competition Commission. (sourced businessday.co.za)