ASX-listed BCI Minerals has formally started a process of selling its iron-ore assets in the Pilbara, with the company’s Iron Valley mine, Kumina and Bungaroo South projects, as well as its proposed Cape Preston East port facility put on the market.
The portfolio up for sale represents one of the largest Pilbara hematite resource bases outside the major producers in Western Australia’s iron-ore-rich region.
BCI stated on Thursday that it had been approached by multiple parties expressing an interest in Kumina and other iron-ore assets, following its June 2018 announcement of a maiden resource for Kumina. The project is estimated to host an inferred resource of 78.3-million tonnes at 59.1% iron and a cutoff of 57% iron, or 115.2-million tonnes at 58% iron and 53% iron cutoff.
The company intends to use the proceeds of the sale of its iron-ore assets to progress the Mardie definitive feasibility study and to maintain full ownership through to a final investment decision date in late 2019. BCI is realigning its business to be a salt and potash producer.
Analysts reportedly estimate that BCI’s iron-ore assets could fetch more than $100-million.