Dundas Ilmenite Project sees 400% increase in maiden resources on 2017
Published by Claire Cuddihy,
Assistant Editor
Global Mining Review,
Bluejay Mining plc, the AIM and FSE listed company with projects in Greenland and Finland, has published an updated JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate and significant resource upgrade for the Dundas Ilmenite Project (Dundas) in Greenland. According to the company, these updated results reaffirm Dundas as the highest-grade mineral sand ilmenite project globally whilst highlighting the Project’s significant commercial and strategic value. The updated Mineral Resource Estimate has been prepared by SRK Exploration Services Ltd (SRK).
Highlights
Total resources identified to date at Dundas now sit at 96 million t at 6.9% ilmenite (in situ) – an increase of some 400% on the maiden resource announced in April 2017.
Resources comprised of the following:
- Indicated Mineral Resources at Moriusaq equal to 81 million t at 6.1% ilmenite in situ.
- Inferred Mineral Resources of:
- 7 million t at 12.2% ilmenite (in-situ) at Iterlak East, a newly identified area ~15km east of Moriusaq
- 7 million t at 9.2% ilmenite (in-situ) surrounding the Moriusaq indicated resources and,
- 1 million t at 6.1% (in-situ) at Iterlak West.
- A newly identified additional Exploration Target over the Iterlak Delta of between 20 million t and 60 million t at between 6% and 10% ilmenite (in-situ).
- Also underway is an assessment of the shallow marine area where potential for additional resources is being evaluated. Results will be announced in due course.
- Opportunity to upgrade the in-situ grade by up to 30% via a simple oversize separation step prior to processing, further enhancing run of mine (ROM) grade and project economics.
The results clearly demonstrate the strong possibility of a large and long-life operation with obvious expansion potential.
Bluejay Mining’s CEO, Roderick McIllree, commented: “We are delighted with this result, a lot of hard work by a lot of people has gone into this upgrade confiming Dundas’s place amongst other major global ilmenite deposits. We expect that the natural advantages of a homogenous material new high grade indicated resource to pin an operation around and a very interesting set of very high-grade targets to the East around Iterlak which is the main feeder zone will help project economics in the long term. Coupled with the fact this material is recognised by industry majors as being suitable for sulfate pigment and both sulfate slag and chloride slag production means we are well placed to make some big strides in the short term.”
“These results matched our best internal expectations of size and grade for the indicated resources at Moriusaq, the surprise of 2017 was the realisation that Iterlak, where mineralisation is found in raised beaches and the delta, appears to host similar sized zones with much higher grades (2017 result from Iterlak was 77% ilmenite in situ on the raised beach) which says to me that if things continue as they did during 2017 Dundas could quickly become unique amongst all known deposits.”
“We have continued to progress permitting, prefeasibility work modules, as well as a general preparation towards a busy 2018, and we expect to be in a poisiton to update shareholders shorlty. The recent award of ‘Prospector and Developer of the Year’ by the Government of Greenland is a testament to our competence and compliance to date in ensuring that the Dundas Project meets its qualifying obligations for an exploitation licence. Alongside this, the team at Bluejay has been working hard with our consulting partners (Wood Plc, IHC Robbins, SRK, Royal IHC and study managers Quadtech ltd and Keypointe ltd) in developing our mine and operational plan."
“As part of evaluating the commercial realities of viable long-term ilmenite production, we have identified a simple and low cost processing route levering off natural characteristics such as the ability to remove ~30% of the oversize material prior to processing (thereby improving the in-situ grades by up to 30% also). We have also optimised the mine plan and schedule such that the operation starts on the highest-grade material, a situation that we should be able to maintain for many years. Importantly, the ore contains concentrations of radionucleides that are below detection."
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/23042018/dundas-ilmenite-project-sees-400-increase-in-maiden-resources-on-april-2017/
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