JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The total indicated and inferred resource of Aim-listed London Mining’s Isua iron-ore project, in Greenland, has increased to 951-million tons, compared with the previously reported 574-million ton resource.

The company on Tuesday reported that consultancy Snowden Mining has confirmed an indicated resource of 114-million tons grading 37% iron (Fe) and an inferred resource of 837-million grading 36% Fe for the project.

“The delineation of additional resources at Isua for a total of 951-million tons is a further step towards defining the technical parameters and potential of the project. Isua is ideally equipped to take advantage of the growing seaborne iron-ore market by virtue of its substantial size, premium grade product and close proximity to a section of the Greenland coast that permits year round shipping,” commented London Mining CEO Graeme Hossie.

London Mining has included parts of the Isua ore body that could potentially be mined within an expanded pit shell, which had been generated by Canadian-based construction and engineering group SNC Lavalin, it said in a statement.

The iron-ore company would now undertake additional infill and extensional drilling at the Greenland project this year and would release a revised prefeasibility study (PFS) in the second quarter of the year.

In February, the company reported that an initial PFS had determined that the project could be developed at a cost of about $1,74-billion.

The project was expected to produce about five-million tons a year of pellet feed over a 23-year life-of-mine.

At the time, London Mining said that a desktop scoping study had shown that the economics of the project could be greatly improved if the project was doubled to ten-million tons a year.

In addition to the Isua project, London Mining was also working on three other iron-projects, namely the Marampa project in Sierra Leone, the Wadi Sawawin project in Saudi Arabia and the China Global Mining Resources joint venture in China.