Mount Ridley Mines has discovered high-grade iron ore up to 62 per cent in rock chip grab samples from a reconnaissance program undertaken at the company’s Weld Range West project, in Western Australia’s Mid West region.
The company engaged a private consulting firm to conduct rock chip sampling across its project ground, targeting three banded iron formation (BIF) units.
A total of 146 rock chip samples were obtained from outcrop and sub-crop areas across the site, with a series of stellar high-grade returns consisting of 62.03 per cent, 61.86 per cent, 61.55 per cent and 60.73 per cent.
Weld Range West consists of the western 20 per cent portion of the Weld Ranges and covers four parallel BIF units. Each unit has a strike length of more than 10 kilometres.
The Madoonga BIF is the northernmost unit within the project. The Wilgie Mia and Lulworth BIF units are in the southern portion of the site and Wilgie Mia is its southernmost unit.
Management says that based on previous geological interpretations, the three units are prospective for iron minerals and the southern BIF units demonstrated consistently higher iron content.
The Wilgie Mia and Lulworth BIF units produced the standout higher-grade results of hematite mineralisation, indicating the prospectivity of the two southern units. No drilling to test for hematite ore has occurred within Mount Ridley’s ground.
The company observed a general trend of the northern section dominated by chert and siliciclastic rocks, while the southern portion consists of more iron shales and jasper.
Management is planning further exploration to obtain a better understanding of some anomalous high-grade iron results to determine their overall significance to the project.
An additional rock chip sampling program is planned to follow up on the encouraging first sample batch and to test the prospectivity of a tenement not subjected to the initial chip sampling.
The company believes aeromagnetic imaging of the area proves the parallel horizons of the BIFs extend for the entire length of the Weld Ranges, with its project ground analogous to the overall Weld Range area.
The Weld Ranges has seen significant iron ore resources discovered in the 80 per cent of the area’s landholdings, which are controlled by the likes of Sinosteel Midwest Corp and Fenix Resources. Sinosteel’s Weld Range iron ore project has a 300 million tonne hematite resource considered to be direct-shipping-ore material.
Mount Ridley has recently engaged a geological consultant to complete a comprehensive review of its landholdings that comprise its rare earths project. The company says it remains committed to the project’s long-term potential and plans to maintain its tenements to maximise any future upside that may result from improved market conditions.
The price of iron ore may be trending sideways at present. As soon as Mount Ridley believes it has a promising play on its hands, it might think that getting a drill bit spinning sooner rather than later is worthwhile.
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