Perth, Feb 14, 2008 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Golden West Resources Limited (Golden West) (ASX: GWR) is pleased to provide an update on progress at its flagship Wiluna West Iron Ore Project in Western Australia.
Wiluna West is one of the largest high grade iron ore discoveries made in the Mid-West region of Western Australia, and has a current JORC Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 86.3 Million tonnes grading 60.1% Fe.
Golden West has cash reserves of approximately $32.7 million, sufficient to fully fund an aggressive exploration program and accelerated project development studies over the next 18 months.
The program will include:
- Expanded 62,000m program of RC and Diamond drilling to increase project resources in excess of 100Mt
- Resource update to be completed by the June quarter
- 1Mt trial mining and bulk sampling program
- Trial and sample shipments to prospective customers
- Detailed strategic planning studies to deliver a 10Mt/anum operation by mid 2011
- Environmental management and mitigation planning
- Commencement of bankable feasibility study
Exploration
Golden West has commenced a major exploration and resource definition program at Wiluna West with the aim of increasing total resources to more than 100 Million tonnes and a program to convert the resource to a mining reserve.
It is expected that an updated resource estimate will be completed in the June quarter. This upgrade is expected to increase the current Wiluna West resource to in excess of 100 Mt grading ~60% Fe.
Expanded RC & Diamond Drilling Program
The present RC and Diamond Drilling campaign will be expanded to involve three RC drill rigs and one diamond rig. This will commence as soon as final approvals have been received from the WA Department of Resources and Industry.
Some 12 separate Program of Works (PoW) submissions were submitted to DoIR during December, and Golden West anticipates final approvals will be received in the next few weeks.
The drilling program will comprise a total of 62,000m of RC drilling in 650 holes, primarily targeting areas of known mineralisation to generate additional resources and reserves.
Bulk Sample
Golden West has sought approvals for a pilot mining program to extract a bulk ore sample of 1 Million tonnes from the Wiluna West project to allow market testing by prospective customers.
The mining program will commence as soon as approval has been received, which is anticipated in mid 2008. It is expected it will take approximately six months to complete the ore stockpile.
Ore shipments will be sourced from this stockpile depending on the market demand.
In addition to providing sample ore products for plant design and customer testing, Golden West anticipates selling surplus ore from the stockpile on commercial terms.
Development Studies
A strategic planning report has been completed which identifies the required stages of development to ensure that a 10 Mt per annum iron project will be operational by mid 2011. The first stage is the development of a preliminary study that encompasses the following areas:
- Resource /Reserve definition
- Mine Planning
- Mining Schedules and Equipment Requirements
- Local Infrastructure
- Rail Transport
- Market Evaluation
- Economic Evaluation
- Stake Holder Relations
- Final Report
A program is being developed to source professional expertise on these different aspects and it is anticipated a preliminary report will be completed by mid-year.
Detailed environmental mitigation and management planning will then commence with a formal bankable feasibility study.
ENDS
Competent Person's Statement
The information in this Public Report that relates to Mineral Resources is based on, and accurately reflects, the information compiled by Ms Marlene Kelly a consultant to Golden West Resources Limited. Ms Kelly is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. and has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activities which she is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Ms Kelly consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on the information in the form and context in which it appears.
Contact
Tel: +61 8 92019202
Fax: +61 8 92019203
admin@goldenwestresources.com
www.goldenwestresources.com
| ||
|
