CENTREX METALS LIMITED - ASX: CXM

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Description

Centrex Metals Ltd has extensive tenement holdings over iron ore resources and exploration targets on Eyre Peninsula in the southern Gawler Craton adjacent to existing rail/port facilities.

The resources and targets are mainly within the early Proterozoic Middleback Subgroup sequence of banded iron formations (BIF) that host the historically important and currently operating iron ore mines of the Middleback Range (Onesteel Ltd). The extensive iron formations of Eyre Peninsula contain significant inferred resources of hematite and/or magnetite banded iron formation. Both historical and recent assays and metallurgical work have confirmed their potential and furthermore, the compositions of magnetic separations are favourable with high iron and low silica, alumina, phosphorous, alkalis and manganese.

Three categories of iron ore have been considered:

* massive hematite ore (as traditionally mined) with Fe > 56% and low impurities (eg. phosphorous and silica);
* hematite-rich BIF or jaspilite (interbanded hematite, quartz and/or iron silicates) with Fe >30%; and
* magnetite-rich BIF (interbanded magnetite, quartz, marble and/or iron silicates) with magnetite content as determined by magnetic Davis Tube Separation (DTS) >20% by weight.

The first category has traditionally been regarded as ‘direct shipping ore’ that could be exported without the need for beneficiation while the latter two categories would require beneficiation (concentration with or without pelletizing) to produce either iron concentrates or direct reduction (DR) grade iron ore pellets suitable for the export market.

Two small inferred hematite resources (total ca. 8 Mt @ 59-61% Fe) at Wilgerup on central Eyre Peninsula were identified by WMC Ltd during the 1990’s. The southern deposit is potentially suitable for direct shipping while the northern deposit could potentially be blended to form the basis of an initial small-scale iron ore mining operation 15-20km from rail and 115-130 km from port facilities. However, additional drilling and modelling are required to establish ore reserves and evaluate the economics of the project.

Inferred resources have been estimated for the major deposits based on limited drilling combined with geological mapping and interpretation of high-resolution aeromagnetic data (Table 1). Resources are judged to have reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. In the case of hematite BIF this may depend on other factors such as the eventual mining of underlying magnetite BIF. Exploration targets are those parts of the BIF for which potential quantity and grade are conceptual in nature and exploration has been insufficient to infer a mineral resource; continued exploration may not result in the determination of a resource.

Metallurgical tests for most of the above magnetite resources indicate that they are technically simple in regard to ease of upgrading the ores to high specification with low impurities such as phosphorous, silica, alumina, manganese and sulphides. They are relatively coarse grained, particularly on southern Eyre Peninsula, with good magnetite liberation at coarse grinds (100% passing 75 microns (?m)).

No beneficiation tests have been undertaken on hematite BIF except for Stony Hill where jaspilitic BIFs are suitable for beneficiation with recovery of most iron oxide after grinding to 150?m. Minus 100?m DTS concentrates averaged 47.9- 49.5% iron oxide @ 64.8-69.1% Fe.

Mine For

iron ore, silica, alumina, phosphorous, alkalis, manganese

Location of operation(s)

South Australia

Address

Level 3 , 100 Pirie Street
ADELAIDE, SA, AUSTRALIA

Phone

(08) 8232 8800

Email

Website

http://www.centrexmetals.com.au

Last Updated

18/04/2011