Exploration
Hematite Exploration
During 2008, Gindalbie commenced a substantially expanded regional exploration program across its 1,900km2 tenement portfolio in the Mid West region aimed at delineating exploration targets totalling 80-100 million tonnes @ 55-60% Fe of Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) hematite.
The Company has approved a A$10 million regional exploration budget for calendar 2008 after regional exploration confirmed a pipeline of 12 drilling targets on both 100%-owned tenements and ground held in various Joint Ventures.
The Company’s geologists believe that small-to-medium sized hematite orebodies represent the principal exploration target within the Company’s Mid West tenure, in addition to the world-class magnetite deposit already defined at Karara.
Key hematite targets include the Shine and Gap Prospects, located within the Warriedar Joint Venture (Gindalbie 60%, Royal Resources 40%), 45km north of Karara, Porcupine, located 10km north-east of Karara, as well as Johnnys, Karara West, Hinge and Brac.
Many of the key prospects encompassed by this exploration target are located outside of any proposed conservation park and in areas that were identified in the Government’s recent Strategic Review Report of the Banded Iron Formations of the Mid West and Goldfields as favoured areas for mining development.
Magnetite Exploration
Since the completion of the Karara Bankable Feasibility Study in 2007, Gindalbie has commenced an aggressive A$7 million exploration program targeting a further increase in the magnetite resource base to a targeted level of 2.2 – 2.8 billion tones @ 36-38% Fe.
Gindalbie is also confident that additional hematite and large Karara-style magnetite resources can be identified at other prospects within its tenements, such as the Lodestone Prospect, which comprises a Banded Iron Formation (BIF) 6km long and up to 0.8km wide.
The Company has also defined a high-grade magnetite resource at depth below the Blue Hills North (BH2) hematite deposit, which is located on the Karara tenements, 5km along strike from the Karara magnetite deposit, as summarized below:
|
Resource Classification
|
Mt
|
Fe (%)
|
SiO2 (%)
|
Al2O3 (%)
|
P (%)
|
S (%)
|
|
Indicated
|
22
|
41.3
|
36.8
|
0.4
|
0.09
|
0.03
|
|
Inferred
|
90
|
41.1
|
34.9
|
0.5
|
0.10
|
0.03
|
|
TOTAL
|
112
|
41.1
|
35.3
|
0.5
|
0.10
|
0.03
|