JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Sable Mining Africa has expanded its West African iron-ore portfolio following the acquisition of a 123.5 km² exploration permit in the Mount Nimba area in south-east Guinea, the company said on Thursday.

The permit, which the miner acquired through its 80% Guinea subsidiary West Africa Exploration, is highly prospective for iron-ore and adjacent to the BHP Billiton/Newmont/Areva 600-million ton Nimba iron-ore project.

The permitted area is close to the Côte d'Ivoire and Liberian borders.

On the area’s lower flanks of Mount Nimba, significant quantities of canga-type iron-ore conglomerate had been observed, forming three main plateaux that cover an area of about 35 km².

Early reconnaissance and sampling confirmed the presence of high-quality iron mineralisation with exposures showing thicknesses of greater than 15 m, where the plateaux had been partially eroded.

Sable Mining stated that a reconnaissance drilling/pitting programme that was planned to confirm the thickness and grade-at-depth of the iron mineralisation, was set for completion prior to the onset of the wet season in May. Access roads to the plateaux would be completed in February.

"This is a fantastic addition to our iron-ore portfolio, with early indications from reconnaissance work already highlighting the project's prospectivity. Taking into account its proximity to the Nimba project, the near surface nature of the orebody, the defined plateaux and the relative proximity to infrastructure, we believe this has the potential to add significant value to the company going forward,” commented CEO Andrew Groves.