Atlas Iron Limited (ASX:AGO) Doubles DSO Resource Inventory To 187Mt
Perth, Jan 21, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Atlas Iron Limited (
ASX:AGO) is pleased to announce that its resource inventory of Direct Shipping Ore has doubled to 186.6 million tonnes at 56.6% Fe, paving the way for the planned increases in production and sales revenue over the next three years.
HIGHLIGHTS
- 97% Increase in DSO Resources in last 6 months
- 230% Increase in DSO resources in last 12 months
- Significant Inferred Resources converted to Measured and Indicated
- Exploration target of 430 to 750Mt at 57 to 60% Fe
The revised DSO resource estimate represents an increase of 97% from the figures published in July 2009 and a rise of 230% from this time last year.
"Atlas has worked extremely hard in the field to grow our resource base during 2009, with 100,000m drilled for the year. That's been reflected in this result, with a 49% increase in resources on Atlas' projects plus the additional 46 million tonnes coming from the recent merger with Warwick Resources" commented David Flanagan, Atlas' Managing Director.
"This is an excellent result for a company of Atlas' size during one of the worst economic downturns in the past 50 years."
"This resource base sets up the Company to achieve its key goals of growing exports to an annual rate of 6 million tonnes this year, rising to 12 million tonnes in 2012."
The Company's Mineral Resources are outlined in the table below.
Atlas Iron Limited - Resource Inventory 31 December 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------Project Resource Kt Fe SiO2 Al2O3 P S LOI CaFeArea Classification (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured 10,290 58.0 5.5 1.7 0.11 0.03 8.9 63.7Total Indicated 40,641 56.9 7.1 1.8 0.08 0.04 8.7 62.3 Inferred 135,674 56.4 7.0 2.9 0.07 0.03 8.5 61.7 -------------------------------------------------------------------Grand Total 186,605 56.6 6.9 2.6 0.07 0.03 8.5 61.9-------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 1: Atlas Iron Limited resource summary table, 31/12/2009.
Note: CaFe% is calcined Fe calculated by Atlas using the following formula: (Fe%/(100-LOI%))*100.
During the year, Atlas has delivered major increases to the resource inventory as a result of a combination of exploration success at Wodgina, Mt Webber, and Mt Dove; extensional drilling at Wodgina and Abydos; and the merger with Warwick Resources, which added a 45.5Mt of inferred resources in the Newman area. In late 2009, infill drilling at Wodgina has enabled the company to convert almost 25Mt of the inferred resource to measured and indicated category.
Based on work completed to date by Atlas and Warwick Resources, the Company now has a revised exploration target range for all its projects of 430 to 750 million tonnes at between 57 and 60% Fe.
This target range is inclusive of the current resource figure quoted in table 1 above.
For the complete Atlas Iron Limited ASX Announcement including Tables and Figures, please click the link below:
http://www.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/62125-ASX-AGO-477432.pdf
About Atlas Iron Limited
Atlas Iron Limited (ASX:AGO) is an independent Australian iron ore company, mining and exporting Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) from its operations in the Northern Pilbara region of Western Australia. Since listing on the ASX in late 2004, Atlas has grown rapidly and is now a member of the ASX100 index.
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