JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – West-African focused exploration company African Minerals on Monday confirmed a mineral resource estimate of 4,7-billion tons of iron-ore, at an average grade of 29,9% for the Numbara and Simbili targets at its Tonkolili project, in Sierra Leone.

African Minerals estimated that about 2,8-billion tons were indicated mineral resources, while a further 1,9-billion tons were inferred mineral resources.

“We have now confirmed a world-class magnetite iron-ore resource at Tonkolili, which complies fully with industry recognised Joint Ore Reserves Committee standards. We are very excited that Tonkolili is turning out to be one of the largest iron-ore discoveries in West Africa,” said African Minerals executive chairperson Frank Timis.

Timis added that the hematite rich cap offered significant further upside to the reported resource, and provided the potential to generate early cash flow.

“African Minerals is well positioned to accelerate the project to prefeasibility study stage with the development of key rail and port infrastructure, over which the company has a 99-year lease with the government of Sierra Leone. This, alongside the recruitment of senior executives with significant iron-ore experience, places us in a strong position to become a significant iron-ore producer supplying European, American, and Chinese markets.

The company noted that the integration of LiDAR topographic data for Numbara and Simbili was scheduled for collection this month, and would allow for the reporting of the surficial hematitic laterite cap overlaying the banded ironstone formation mineralisation. The mineral resource would, therefore, be revised and updated upon receipt of this data.

African Minerals began its exploration drilling programme at Tonkilili in 2007, to investigate strong anomalism noted in aeromagnetic data, which extended for about 28 km over the Sula mountain range of Sierra Leone.

The two principal targets were identified towards the southern end of the magnetic anomaly, and yielded very encouraging iron grades from reconnaissance surface trenching, and reconnaissance drilling during 2007. An intensive systematic diamond drilling programme started in 2008, with drilling concentrating on the widest portions of the two targets.

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