dmc ready to make most of mayoko

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23656954-643,00.html

Kevin Andrusiak | May 07, 2008
PERTH-BASED junior explorer DMC Mining is expected to add to the iron ore mania on the bourse today when it releases its maiden resource statement for its Mayoko project in Africa.

The company was in a trading halt yesterday pending the announcement, which is expected to show an initial resource of 33 million tonnes of hematite ore grading upwards of 55 per cent.

DMC is believed to be eyeing a resource of up to 135 million tonnes at the Mayoko project, in the Republic of the Congo's Pre-Cambrian Congo Craton.

The explorer has managed to build an initial inferred resource based on only limited drilling at Mayoko and will press on with an estimated 30,000m drill campaign from next month. In its favour is the fact that the deposit is only a few kilometres from rail facilities and the deposit is open at depth and along strike.

DMC is also looking to prove up a magnetite resource for the project with the magnetite mineralisation hidden by the hematite ore. The Republic of the Congo, often confused with the Democratic Republic of Congo, is considered to be one of the lower risk nations in Africa in terms of security and politics.

Separately, Cloncurry copper explorer Exco Resources is expected to announce that Ivanhoe Australia has exercised 21.1 million options at 35c each.

It adds about $7.4 million to Exco's bank balance while Ivanhoe takes its stake in the company to around 19.6 per cent.

The deadline for exercising the options is June 1 and the options were obtained as part of a capital raising by Exco in May last year.

Ivanhoe Australia is a subsidiary of Ivanhoe Mines and controls a significant tenement holding around Cloncurry.

Ivanhoe Australia failed to get the necessary investor support to float the assets earlier this year with speculation that Chinalco was to have taken a cornerstone stake. Exco shares retreated 0.5c yesterday to be worth 35.5c when the market closed.