Fieldwork at Bluejay Mining PLC’s (LON:JAY) Dundas mineral sands project in Greenland is due to get underway in June and is likely to run through to October.
It should take the company significantly closer to a production decision, on a project that is already well advanced.
Read: Bluejay has the highest grade ilmenite project anywhere in the world, and has secured big-name backers to help put it into production
"2018 has already been a successful year for Bluejay with a £17 million raise executed and a 400% increase on the JORC code compliant maiden mineral resource achieved, which not only reaffirms Dundas as the world's highest-grade ilmenite project but also shows our significant scale,” said Bluejay chief executive Rod McIllree.
“Our primary focus now is to ensure that we maintain our momentum towards production. To achieve this, our first objective is to finalise and submit our relevant exploitation licence applications to the Government of Greenland, which we should be in a position to do by the end of this field season.”
The plan is to expand the existing resource at Dundas, with a particular focus on the Iterlak prospect. Here, Bluejay’s internal estimates indicate that it should be possible to define additional resources in excess of 100 mln tonnes.
The company will also assess the potential for shallow marine mining in the second half of 2018.
Meanwhile, the environmental impact assessment is ongoing, although finalisation of the mine plan is required before it can be completed. The mine plan will be part of the preliminary feasibility study and is expected shortly.
The company has more that £15 mln in the bank to support it in the current programmes.