Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R) has outlined a significant magnetite Exploration Target outlined at the company’s 100%-owned Whaleshark Project, in the Gascoyne region of WA. The magnetite Exploration Target of 411Mt - 2,353Mt at 25-30% Fe is located in proximity to substantial mining, processing, power, transport and shipping infrastructure.
Miramar’s Executive Chairman, Allan Kelly, said that along with significant copper and gold potential, the Whaleshark Project had the potential to host a substantial “green iron” project.
“There is strong demand for magnetite from steel producers looking to reduce their carbon emissions through production of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI), which requires the higher grades obtained from magnetite iron ore to be effective,” Mr Kelly said.
“Whaleshark has several large magnetite-rich banded iron formations that have not been previously targeted or explored for magnetite iron mineralisation,” he said.
“Data from the passive seismic survey recently completed confirms that these magnetite-rich banded iron formation lie under relatively shallow cover,” he added
“Importantly, the Whaleshark Project is located in proximity to substantial existing and proposed mining, processing, power, transport and shipping infrastructure,” he said.
By using modelled geophysical data, geological logging and assay results from historical drilling within the Whaleshark magnetic anomaly and extrapolating those results to the two banded iron formations south of the Whaleshark Granodiorite, the Company has outlined a significant potential volume of magnetite iron ore, with the midpoint in the order of 1 billion tonnes.
The scale of the potential magnetite iron mineralisation at Whaleshark compares favourably with several large magnetite projects within WA.
In the mid-1990’s, whilst exploring for iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) mineralisation around Onslow, Western Mining Corporation (WMC) modelled airborne and ground magnetic data over the Whaleshark magnetic anomaly and interpreted it as being caused by a sub-vertical and highly magnetic unit, approximately 200m thick and extending downwards from approximately 150m depth below surface.
RC and diamond drilling by WMC intersected magnetite-rich BIF beneath 125-130m of basin sediments with several holes ending in mineralisation. Density measurements conducted on drill core from these holes indicated an average specific gravity of approximately 3.2g/cm for the BIF unit.
Drill core from within the Whaleshark BIF appears similar to the Archean Cleaverville Formation, which hosts the 1.5 billion tonne Maitland River and Miaree magnetite iron deposits
