The following article on Golden West appeared in the International Mining Project News May 27 2007 publication.
Country: AUSTRALIA Owner in AUSTRALIA IRON ORE
May 22: A proposed hematite iron ore project in Western Australia is a step closer to development with approval announced for a scoping study to proceed. The study is expected to lead into the key feasibility study for the production and sale of iron ore from the Wiluna West project east of Geraldton being developed by Golden West Resources. The company said its decision to proceed with the scoping study followed the successful definition last month of Wiluna’s maiden Inferred mineral resource of 50.1Mt of direct shipping ore, averaging 61.1% Fe and low levels of phosphorous, along with the favourable preliminary results from a separate transport study of Golden West’s likely rail and port costs for the option of shipping bulk tonnages south through Esperance – the study finding the rate would be around a competitive A$25/t based on 10 Mt/y.
There is a high level of confidence in a significant tonnage upgrade in the short term to Golden West’s iron resources as current drilling schedules are being enhanced and the initial 50Mt JORC estimate is only from one area of the Wiluna West tenements. Assay results from a further 8,000 drill samples are progressively being received.
Golden West Resources’ Managing Director, Gary Hutchinson, said today that the scoping study would provide an initial overview of likely mining, engineering and port costs for West Wiluna as it moved to meet its major production and life of mine objectives of at least 10Mt/y for a minimum 15 years. Snowden Consulting Group has been appointed to conduct the scoping study.
Golden West is maintaining a vigorous drilling program to rapidly expand its resources, targeting a starting point for mining in the range from 150Mt.
It has kept its ore shipment option open, being potentially able to export through either Esperance or the proposed Oakagee port north of Geraldton. Hutchinson said that Longrun Transport Developments, which had undertaken the Esperance transport study, had now been commissioned to also examine transport costs for the alternative Wiluna to Oakajee Port via Weld Range route. “We anticipate a saving of around 20% on this route as it is 200 km shorter than exporting through Esperance. The new Longrun findings will be incorporated into the scoping study.”
Wiluna West’s initial resource estimate is contained within a small number of targets within close proximity to each other in Golden West Resources’ tenements, 35 km southwest of Wiluna and 450 km north of Kalgoorlie. “We have only tested 30% of the prospective strike at Wiluna West and are confident of readily achieving our desired initial mineral target of at least 150Mt of iron ore,” Hutchinson said.
Golden West Resources’ JORC estimate was dominated by the Company’s C4 deposit which alone contains 24Mt at 60% Fe, including significant high grade tonnages of 15.3Mt grading 62.7% Fe and 5.6% silica. Assay results pending are from drilling on the C1, C2, C3 and C5 deposits immediately south and along strike from C4. The intensified drilling program is focused on identifying new resources rather than infill drilling of known deposits and will utilise new exploration models based upon known deposits such as C4.
DYOR
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