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FIRST INDICATED RESOURCE FOR FLINDERS PILBARA IRON
PROJECT INCREASES POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS
New independent results including a maiden Indicated resource - have increased iron ore resource estimates for the plus 500 million tonne Pilbara (WA) project of Flinders Mines Limited (ASX: FMS), further expanding the Adelaide-based iron developers potential options for future development.
The Company today announced a new total global Inferred and Indicated Resource for its Pilbara project (ELs 47/882 and nearby 47/1560) of 550 million tonnes grading an average 55.6% Fe.
The gain has been driven solely by a 26% increase, of 39 million tonnes, in the Indicated and Inferred Resource for the flagship Delta deposit, the pivotal area for Flinders currently on-track mine Prefeasibility study, due for completion in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The new estimate is the first Indicated resource for Delta and the first for the whole project.
At a 50% Fe cut-off, Delta now hosts an estimated Indicated Resource of 156.6Mt at 56.5% Fe and an Inferred Resource of 30.5Mt at 56.4% Fe, totalling 187.1Mt at 56.5% Fe.
Also, at a 57% Fe cut-off, the Delta deposit contains a combined Indicated and Inferred Resource of 85 Mt at 59.3% Fe which, after further mining and metallurgy studies, has potential for conversion to Direct Shipping Ore (DSO).
The higher estimate was prepared by independent geological consultants, Golder Associates Pty Ltd, using results from 381 new reverse circulation infill holes drilled at Delta between October and December last year.
The new gains will be included in a total global resource revised estimate for the Pilbara project about to be prepared by Flinders Mines and Golder, and taking in new modelling on the tenements Delta, Ajax, Blackjack, Champion and Eagle deposits as well as mineralisation located outside the 2009 resource model.
The new Delta resource comprises only a part of the emerging overall Pilbara project picture, Flinders Mines Managing Director, Dr Kevin Wills, said today.
However, it represents an excellent conversion from Inferred to the Indicated category, demonstrating the robust nature of the Projects mineralisation and its contained multiple layers of hematite-rich Channel Iron Deposits (CID) and goethite-rich Bedded Iron Deposits (BID) - while adding to our confidence of understanding the Delta deposit, Dr Wills said.