IMX Resources Reports Favourable Metallurgical Test Results from Mt Woods Magnetite Project Exploration Targets
PERTH, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwired - Jul 22, 2013) - IMX Resources Ltd. (ASX:IXR)(ASX:IXR.WT)(TSX:IXR)(TSX:IXR.WT)
Highlights
- Samples from the Mt Woods Magnetite Project exploration targets have demonstrated similar metallurgical properties to that of the Snaefell deposit
- Based on the testing of 21 samples of fresh and transitional material from seven exploration targets, high levels of metallurgical consistency are considered likely across the Mt Woods exploration targets
- Concentrate grade of 68.6% Fe (average of all tests) at a grind size of 80 microns, including an average of 69.3% Fe from the Tomahawk North deposit
- Mass yield averaged 35.5% across all samples including 41.0% for the Tomahawk North deposit
IMX Resources Ltd. ('IMX' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce that it has received the results of a recent metallurgical test work program carried out by Amdel Pty Ltd in Perth.
The metallurgical test work was carried out on 21 reverse circulation ('RC') chip samples of both fresh and transitional material from drilling of seven exploration targets carried out in October and November 2012(1), on the Company's Mt Woods Magnetite Project in South Australia.
The test results, which show an average yield of 35.5% and a concentrate grade of 68.6% Fe at a relatively coarse grind size of 80 microns, indicate that samples tested from the Mt Woods exploration targets have substantially the same metallurgical characteristics as indicated by previous testing of RC samples from the Snaefell magnetite deposit.(2) IMX currently has a JORC Inferred Resource of 569Mt @ 27% Fe at Snaefell and a global exploration target of between 900-1,200Mt @ 20-32% Fe elsewhere in the surrounding area on the Mt Woods property.1
The test work was carried out by grinding the material to a target grind size of 80 microns, and then using Davis Tube Recovery ('DTR') to produce a magnetic concentrate. Detailed results and a brief summary of the test work carried out are presented in Appendix 1.
Managing Director Neil Meadows commented, "We are encouraged by the similarity of these metallurgical test work results to previous test work carried out on the Snaefell deposit.2 These results, together with the findings of previous work carried out at Mt Woods, provide further support for development of the Mt Woods Magnetite Project."
NEIL MEADOWS, Managing Director
1 ASX announcement 27 March 2013. The global exploration target is not a resource estimate as defined by the 2004 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves or Canadian National Instrument 43-101, as insufficient exploration has been conducted to define a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a Mineral Resource.
2 ASX announcements 27 August 2012 and 19 March 2013.
Appendix 1. Summary of test work and results
Sample Selection and Compositing
Samples were selected from the drilling carried out on the various exploration targets to represent, where possible, both geodomains of fresh and transitional mineralisation, based on the geological logging of the RC chips. The 'Fresh' geodomain is where the magnetite in the basement rock is not affected by weathering and the only iron oxide mineral is magnetite. The 'Transition' geodomain is where weathering has affected some of the basement rock and the iron content is due to a mix of magnetite and non-magnetite iron oxide minerals, such as hematite or goethite.
Individual metre samples of the specially selected and indicative intervals were split in the field, using a three tier riffle splitter and produced a 2-3.5kg representative sub-sample from the RC chip mining bags. These sub-samples were then composited by Bureau Veritas to generate the exploration target geodomain composite samples used for DTR testing. The calculated assays of the composite samples are shown in Table 1 and corresponding DTR analyses in Table 2.
Table 1. Composite Assays, calculated from original 1 m drill samples.
Exploration Target | Geodomain | % Fe | % SiO2 | % Al2O3 | % TiO2 | % S |
Arapiles | High Grade (HG) Transition | 32.18 | 41.30 | 5.23 | 0.19 | 0.014 |
Arapiles | Fresh | 32.39 | 41.25 | 5.52 | 0.29 | 0.014 |
Axehead | Transition | 31.70 | 41.78 | 1.79 | 0.08 | 0.008 |
Axehead | Fresh | 30.78 | 43.81 | 1.27 | 0.06 | 0.012 |
Axehead | HG Transition | 39.83 | 34.20 | 1.49 | 0.03 | 0.047 |
Axehead | HG Fresh 1 | 37.24 | 35.99 | 0.42 | 0.005 | 0.009 |
Axehead | HG Transition | 42.49 | 32.24 | 0.83 | 0.02 | 0.070 |
Axehead | HG Fresh 2 | 35.79 | 38.80 | 0.80 | 0.03 | 0.025 |
Eagle 1A | Transition | 26.99 | 25.84 | 0.94 | 0.06 | 0.008 |
Eagle 1A | Fresh 1 | 25.86 | 36.78 | 1.42 | 0.10 | 0.004 |
Eagle 1A | Fresh 2 | 30.48 | 42.05 | 0.77 | 0.03 | 0.008 |
Eagle 5B | HG Transition | 28.46 | 31.34 | 0.86 | 0.05 | 0.011 |
Eagle 5B | HG Fresh | 32.66 | 41.06 | 0.36 | 0.005 | 0.003 |
Fitzgerald Dam | Fresh | 32.08 | 42.63 | 4.89 | 0.22 | 0.020 |
Penryhn | Fresh | 31.41 | 42.12 | 4.62 | 0.22 | 0.050 |
Tomahawk North 1A | Transition | 33.45 | 41.71 | 0.80 | 0.03 | 0.009 |
Tomahawk North 1A | Fresh | 33.59 | 40.39 | 0.54 | 0.02 | 0.017 |
Tomahawk North 1A | HG Transition | 35.52 | 38.77 | 1.89 | 0.03 | 0.008 |
Tomahawk North 1A | HG Fresh | 33.77 | 42.92 | 1.45 | 0.05 | 0.034 |
Tomahawk North 1B | HG Transition | 34.28 | 39.57 | 0.75 | 0.03 | 0.006 |
Tomahawk North 1B | Fresh | 33.05 | 40.95 | 1.24 | 0.07 | 0.017 |
Average | 33.00 | 38.83 | 1.80 | 0.08 | 0.019 |
DTR Testing
The composites prepared were then ground using a screen size of 150 microns, which resulted in an approximate 80 microns P80. Samples were then subjected to DTR testing with assaying of concentrate and tailings products. The results from the DTR testing are presented in Table 2. This testing regime is the same as that used for testing of RC samples from the Snaefell deposit, allowing for a comparison of metallurgical characteristics.
Table 2. Results of DTR Testing
Exploration Target | Geodomain | Mass Yield | Magnetic Concentrate | |||||
Fe | SiO2 | Al2O3 | P | TiO2 | S | |||
% | % | % | % | % | % | % | ||
Arapiles | HG Transition | 20.3 | 67.51 | 2.43 | 0.53 | 0.007 | 0.04 | 0.008 |
Arapiles | Fresh | 28.4 | 64.94 | 7.01 | 1.45 | 0.034 | 0.50 | 0.013 |
Axehead | Transition | 24.8 | 67.63 | 3.39 | 0.32 | 0.027 | 0.12 | 0.002 |
Axehead | Fresh | 35.5 | 67.59 | 4.38 | 0.39 | 0.022 | 0.10 | 0.010 |
Axehead | HG Transition | 35.3 | 68.70 | 2.07 | 0.23 | 0.012 | 0.03 | 0.008 |
Axehead | HG Fresh | 48.2 | 68.24 | 3.96 | 0.21 | 0.018 | 0.02 | 0.006 |
Axehead | HG Transition | 46.8 | 67.92 | 2.43 | 0.19 | 0.015 | 0.02 | 0.012 |
Axehead | HG Fresh | 42.6 | 68.39 | 3.20 | 0.21 | 0.021 | 0.04 | 0.009 |
Eagle 1A | Transition | 36.2 | 70.37 | 0.69 | 0.26 | 0.003 | 0.09 | 0.007 |
Eagle 1A | Fresh | 28.3 | 66.93 | 0.82 | 0.32 | 0.004 | 0.11 | 0.006 |
Eagle 1A | Fresh | 33.8 | 67.14 | 0.77 | 0.37 | 0.004 | 0.06 | 0.004 |
Eagle 5B | HG Transition | 35.3 | 69.53 | 0.56 | 0.18 | 0.003 | 0.05 | 0.004 |
Eagle 5B | HG Fresh | 19.0 | 69.24 | 0.85 | 0.15 | 0.006 | <0.01 | 0.005 |
Fitzgerald Dam | Fresh | 28.8 | 70.39 | 0.97 | 0.35 | 0.007 | 0.01 | 0.003 |
Penryhn | Fresh | 37.0 | 70.97 | 0.83 | 0.38 | 0.009 | 0.12 | 0.004 |
Tomahawk North 1A | Transition | 39.4 | 69.00 | 1.60 | 0.25 | 0.008 | 0.04 | 0.018 |
Tomahawk North 1A | Fresh | 42.5 | 68.98 | 2.74 | 0.25 | 0.008 | 0.04 | 0.010 |
Tomahawk North 1A | HG Transition | 43.1 | 69.21 | 1.22 | 0.15 | 0.007 | 0.03 | 0.007 |
Tomahawk North 1A | HG Fresh | 41.1 | 69.39 | 1.63 | 0.21 | 0.011 | 0.03 | 0.029 |
Tomahawk North 1B | HG Transition | 43.2 | 69.58 | 1.27 | 0.19 | 0.007 | 0.03 | 0.002 |
Tomahawk North 1B | Fresh | 36.8 | 69.92 | 1.54 | 0.20 | 0.007 | 0.04 | 0.014 |
Average | 35.5 | 68.65 | 2.11 | 0.32 | 0.011 | 0.08 | 0.008 |
Competent Persons / Qualified Persons
Information relating to the RC drilling of the 21 holes; the field collection of samples for metallurgical testing and the exploration data to generate Tables 1 and 2, is based on data compiled by Mr Peter Hill who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, and who is a full-time employee of the Company. Mr Hill has sufficient relevant experience to qualify as a Competent Person under the 2004 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the '2004 JORC Code') and as a Qualified Person for the purpose of Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ('NI 43-101'). Mr Hill approves and consents to the inclusion of the data in the form and context in which it appears.
Information in this announcement that relates to the estimation of metallurgical performance is based on test work completed by Amdel Pty Ltd, an independent, professional laboratory. This test work has been supervised and reviewed by Mr Stewart Watkins (BEng), the Company's General Manager Projects, who is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Watkins has sufficient experience to qualify as a Competent Person under the 2004 JORC Code and as a Qualified Person for the purpose of NI 43-101. Mr Watkins approves and consents to the inclusion of the data in the form and context in which it appears.
About IMX Resources Ltd.
IMX Resources Ltd. is an Australian based mining and base and precious metals exploration company, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange ('ASX') and Toronto Stock Exchange ('TSX'), with exploration projects located in Australia, Africa and North America.
In Africa, IMX owns and operates the highly prospective Nachingwea Exploration Project in south-east Tanzania, which includes the potentially world-class Ntaka Hill Nickel Sulphide Project. Nachingwea is highly prospective for nickel and copper sulphide, gold and graphite mineralisation. The Ntaka Hill Nickel Sulphide Project is one of the world's best un-developed nickel sulphide projects and has the potential to produce a very clean, high quality premium nickel concentrate.
In Australia, IMX operates and owns 51% of the Cairn Hill Mining Operation, located 55 kilometres south-east of Coober Pedy in South Australia, where it produces a premium coarse-grained magnetite-copper-gold DSO product at a rate of 1.8Mtpa.
IMX is actively developing the Mt Woods Magnetite Project on the highly prospective Mt Woods Inlier in South Australia. IMX currently has a JORC compliant Inferred Resource of 569Mt @ 27% Fe at the Snaefell Magnetite Deposit and a Global Exploration Target of between 900-1,200Mt @ 20-32% Fe elsewhere in the project. Exploration Target tonnage quantity and grades estimates are conceptual in nature only. These figures are not resource estimates as defined by the JORC (2004) or NI 43-101, as insufficient exploration has been conducted to define a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a Mineral Resource.
In accordance with NI 43-101, on 19 July 2013, the Company issued a technical report (the 'Technical Report'), which focused on the Snaefell deposit. The Technical Report considered a number of throughput scenarios and investigated alternative port solutions. A copy of the Technical Report is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
IMX has a joint venture with OZ Minerals Ltd. ('OZ Minerals'), the Mt Woods Copper-Gold Joint Venture Project, to explore the Mt Woods tenements for copper and gold. OZ Minerals is spending a minimum of AUD 20 million for a 51% interest in the non-iron rights, with IMX retaining a 49% interest in the non-iron rights and 100% of the iron ore rights.
IMX owns 25.65% of Uranex (ASX:UNX), an exploration company with prospects in Tanzania and Australia.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: The TSX does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release includes certain "forward‐looking statements". Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are frequently characterised by words such as "plan," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "will" or "could" occur. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward‐looking statements or constitute forward-looking information. Such statements and information in this news release include, but are not limited to potential project development and access to infrastructure. There can be no assurance that such information or statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from IMX's expectations.
These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, the opinions and estimates of management and Qualified Persons / Competent Persons at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements or information. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, the ability of contracted parties (including laboratories and drill companies to provide services as contracted), limited, constrained or unavailable infrastructure (including rail lines and port and shipping availability), uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future and other factors. Exploration target tonnage quantity and grades estimates are conceptual in nature only. These figures are not resource estimates as defined by the JORC (2004) or NI 43-101, as insufficient exploration has been conducted to define a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a Mineral Resource. Mineral resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
IMX undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements or information if circumstances should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. Readers are also cautioned to review the risk factors identified by IMX in its regulatory filings made from time to time with the ASX, TSX and applicable Canadian securities regulators.
ABN 67 009 129 560
Contact
IMX Resources Ltd.
Neil Meadows
Managing Director
+61 8 9388 7877
nmeadows@imxres.com.au
www.imxresources.com.au
Professional Public Relations
Tony Dawe
Investor Relations
+61 8 9388 0944
tony.dawe@ppr.com.au