JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and JSE-listed iron-ore company Tawana Resources on Wednesday announced that Liberia had granted it approval to start exploration work on its recently acquired, 100%-owned MEL1223/14 Mofe Creek South licence.

The company said that this new licence was “highly prospective” for direct shipping ore (DSO) mineralisation.

Last month, Tawana reported that grades up to 61.6% iron DSO mineralisation and coarse-grained, friable itabirite mineralisation over a strike length of more than 4.5 km had been discovered.

The company stated that ongoing field mapping work would systematically assess remaining and additional targets, which include DSO potential.

Tawana noted that it had also been awarded its Environmental Protection Agency permit for MEL1223/14.

“This permit allows us to progress field exploration activities and is a legal requirement under Liberian regulations,” Tawana highlighted.

Additionally, the company said low-cost exploration activities were being progressed, including geological mapping to define further new targets within tenement MEL1223/14, and had continued to provide encouraging results.

“These encouraging results strengthen the rationale for further low-cost exploration in the area, with the potential number of targets now increased to 74 magnetic and topographic anomalies across both tenements,” said Tawana.

Further, the company pointed out that it had executed a memorandum of understanding with Hong Kong-based miner Wisco Cad, in May for the use of the Freeport iron-ore facility in Monrovia.

Wisco is the owner-operator of the iron-ore port facility and is currently exporting iron-ore through the port.

“A draft cooperation agreement has been forwarded to Wisco for review and negotiation.”

Tawana also stressed that it continued to advance discussions with in-country iron-ore producers and developers on potential co-sharing infrastructure arrangements for a common-user port and infrastructure corridor.

The company has also been granted an eight-month extension of the initial three-year exploration term for both licences MEL12029 and MEL1223/14 in consideration of last year’s Ebola outbreak, which all parties acknowledged as a force majeure event.

Tawana is also currently awaiting a formal response from Liberia’s Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee (IMCC) with regard to the first pass submission of the Tawana Liberia Mineral Development Agreement.

“Negotiations are expected to progress in the coming month/s,” the company concluded.