Northern Iron is an Australian company headquartered in Perth which was formed to acquire the Sydvaranger Iron Project in northern Norway. Northern Iron intends to redevelop the Sydvaranger Iron Project to commence production of magnetite iron concentrate for supply into the European market.
Northern Iron intends to redevelop the Sydvaranger Iron Project to commence production of magnetite iron concentrate for supply into the European market. The Sydvaranger Iron Project encompasses three magnetite deposits with JORC compliant resources (Bjørnevatn, Fisketind Øst, Kjellmannsåsen).
Huge increase in iron ore resource for Northern Iron at New Bjornevatn
Northern Iron (ASX:NFE) has advised a large drilling program at the company's Sydvaranger Iron Project in Norway has been underway to infill gaps in the historical drilling and to confirm the validity of the historical data. This work has been required to upgrade the resources from the Inferred category to Measured and Indicated, enabling the estimation of a Reserve.
A revised resource has been estimated for the Bjørnevatn deposit based on the results of the 2008 drill program, and revised interpretations resulting from additional site based information including sections and grade control sampling from the previous operation.
New Fe Resource
The new Bjørnevatn resource totals 290 Mt grading 31 % Fe (total), including 153 Mt grading 32% Fe (total) in the Indicated category. Table 1 contains a summary of the total Mineral Resources for the Sydvaranger Iron Project. Indicated Resources have been increased by 690% since the previously announced Indicated Resources.
A further eight deposits have Inferred resources and work is continuing on upgrading the category of these resources to Measured and Indicated. Drill results are pending for the Tverrdalen and Fisketind Øst deposits and once received, new resource estimates will be prepared for these deposits.
After applying suitable modifying factors (and using a long term concentrate price of US$48/t), the Probable Reserve for the Bjørnevatn deposit is 90.5 Mt grading 32 % Fe (total). In addition to the Bjørnevatn Reserve, a further 11.4Mt grading 29% Fe (total) of Inferred resource is contained within the Bjørnevatn pit design. The Bjørnevatn Reserve represents a 430% increase in project Reserves since the previously announced Reserve statement.
The Reserves from the initial three deposits underpin a 16 year mine life and will provide the bulk of the ore over a planned 30 year mine life. In addition to the Reserves, there is approximately 118Mt grading 31% Fe (total) of Inferred resources within pit designs which may, subject to conversion to Reserves, provide additional mine life. Work is ongoing to convert these resources to a higher level of confidence which is the only outstanding item for conversion to Reserve status. Reserves have been declared for only three deposits out of the 11 with resources and a total of 23 deposits within the Company’s tenure and the Company is of the view that there is excellent potential to expand the resource and Reserve base.
Acquisition of Sydvaranger Iron Project
Northern Iron was formed to acquire the Sydvaranger Iron Project in Norway. The Company was listed on the ASX in December 2007 and raised sufficient equity to restart production of iron concentrates from the Sydvaranger Iron Project. Production is planned at a rate of 2.9Mtpa of concentrates grading 67.5% Fe over a mine life of in excess of 30 years for supply into the European market .
The Sydvaranger Iron Project has a long history of production from 1910 until 1997 and much of the infrastructure is still intact. The Company’s business plan is based on recommencing production as quickly as possible to take advantage of the forecast strong iron ore prices over the near term.
Northern Iron has 165 million shares and 4.7 million unlisted options on issue.
