February 26, 2011 - 1:20AM
Fortescue Metals Group has announced the discovery of more than one billion tonnes of iron ore in Western Australia's Pilbara and aims to develop it rapidly.
The new project, named Nyidinghu, is about 35 kilometers south of Fortescue's first mine, Cloudbreak, and contained an inferred resource of 1.032 billion tonnes of ore at a grade of 58 per cent iron, the company said.
In a statement to the stock exchange issued several hours after the market closed, Fortescue said the 1.03 billion tonnes of high-grade Brockman ore was in the inferred category of Australia's mineral reporting code, the least proved-up category.
"The proximity of Nyidinghu to Fortescue's existing Chichester Hub mining operations and unique high-performance modern infrastructure boosts their collective value significantly," Fortescue said.
It said the high-phosphorus discovery could significantly increase its total production and be used to mix with lower phosphorus ore.
"The new Nyidinghu discovery will create a new high-value blend and thus extend the life of these mines," it said.
"Fortescue is commencing a feasibility study with a view to developing this deposit as rapidly as possible. This maiden estimate is expected to grow as further drill results come in."
Fortescue shares were put in a trading halt early in yesterday's market session at the company's request. Their last sale was at $6.50, up 4¢.
Fortescue is spending $8.4 billion expanding its mines in Western Australia to almost triple output to supply steel mills in China.
The average price of its ore in the second half of 2010 rose to $US138.50 a tonne from $67.58 a year earlier.
It said yesterday it now controlled almost 7 billion tonnes of hematite ore and a further 2.5 billion tonnes of magnetite ore.
BLOOMBERG, AAP
Tags:Chinchester Hub mining operations, Hematite ore, magnetite ore,
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment