Could certainly be AGO as one of the front runners .
PRINCIPAL ACTIVITY Atlas Iron Limited (AGO) is an iron ore producer with most of the projects prospective for iron ore and located within the Northeast Pilbara region, Western Australia (WA). Currently, all of AGO s existing projects have total JORC Resources and Reserves of iron ore of 1,034Mt @ 56.3% Fe and 242Mt @ 57.5% Fe, respectively. The Company s Pilbara mines are now running at rates of 6Mtpa.
MINES IN PRODUCTION: The Company has two iron ore projects that are currently in production, being the Pardoo DSO Project and the Wodgina DSO Project, both of which are located around the Port Hedland area in the Pilbara region of WA. For the Pardoo DSO Project, the Company continued to expand production at the project with the mine producing 0.22Mt of processed ore during the March 2012 quarter. For the Wodgina DSO Project, its mine produced 0.84Mt of processed ore during the same period. In May 2011, the project s capacity was at 7Mtpa. Moreover, AGO is planning to commence a further three mines in the North Pilbara (Mt Dove DSO Project, Abydos DSO Project and Mt Webber Project).
EXPLORATION & RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT: During 2011, AGO undertook drilling activity, with field work focused on the mining and near-mine projects in the North Pilbara; principally Pardoo, Wodgina and Mt Webber. During the March 2012 quarter, AGO drilled 270 RC holes and 22 diamond holes for a total of 30,474m across its Pilbara projects. Approximately 50% of the drilling occurred at McPhee Creek, with the balance being ongoing programs at the Abydos, Mt Webber and Jigalong projects. AGO also continued to test a range of targets in the South East Pilbara, with substantial drill programs at McCamey s North, Hickman, Warrawanda and Western Creek.
PORT FACILITY: AGO holds a 63% interest in North West Infrastructure (NWI), which has rights to 50Mtpa of export capacity at Port Hedland. Moreover, AGO is now shipping iron ore exclusively through the Utah Point port facility in Port Hedland harbour, underpinned by the combined production of its Pardoo and Wodgina mines.
OTHER INVESTMENTS: AGO holds a 45.4% interest in Shaw River, a manganese exploration and development company. The Company also holds a 19.85% interest in Centaurus Metals Ltd, an emerging Brazilian iron ore explorer and developer.
PLV Price at posting:
15.3¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held