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Cyclone Metals Limited (ASX: CLE) (Cyclone or the Company) is pleased to announce the results of Phase 1 of the pilot plant test work for its flagship magnetite Iron Bear project.
HIGHLIGHTS
- 500 kg of source sediment grading 29.1% total Fe processed in a small-scale pilot plant
- Production of a Direct Reduction concentrate grading 71.3% Fe (from 70.6% Fe1) and 1.1% SiO2 (from 1.2% SiO2) with a total magnetic Fe yield of 85.1%2 (from 80%1)
- Direct Reduction concentrate is critical to enable large scale green steel production based on Direction Reduction technologies
- Production of a Blast Furnace concentrate grading 69.8% Fe (from 68.7%3) and 3.4% SiO2 with a total magnetic Fe yield of 97.6% (from 97.0%3)
- Production of an additional recovery RF (Reverse Flotation) concentrate grading 68.3% Fe and 4% SiO2 to increase overall recovery2
- Extremely low deleterious elements in all concentrate products, including Al2O3, MnO, P2O5, CaO, etc…
- 68 kg of Direct Reduction concentrate ready to be provided to potential clients for tests work and potential off take agreements
- Phase 2 pilot test work started with 7,000 kg of source sediment to produce larger samples for pelletising test work and further metallurgical test work
Paul Berend, CEO of Cyclone Metals, commented:
"The first phase of the pilot test work confirms the exceptional metallurgical properties of the Iron Bear deposit. We were able to produce one of the highest quality magnetite concentrates in the world with very high yields in an industrial setting. We are now in a position to supply ultra–high quality iron ore product samples to steel mills and trading houses, and then start offtake / JV discussions. These are exciting times.”
Location and Infrastructure
The Iron Bear Project consists of ten licenses totalling 7,275 ha on 291 graticular Mineral Claims under the applicable Labrador and Newfoundland mining regulation, located near the Provincial border of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec, approximately 30 km northwest of the town of Schefferville and 1,200 km northeast of Montréal.
Figure 1: Iron Bear - Regional Access and Infrastructure
The Iron Bear properties are located within 25 km of an open access heavy haul railway which is directly connected to the Sept Isles and Pointe Noire iron ore export ports. In addition, the Iron Bear has potential access to cheap renewable energy from the Menihek hydro-plant located 75km away. These two factors substantially improve the prospects for eventual economic extraction of the Iron Bear mineral resource.
Notably, large scale iron ore export operations currently operate in the Labrador Trough; including IOC (Rio Tinto), Champion Iron and Tata Steel; all sharing the same rail and port infrastructure.
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This article includes content from Cyclone Metals Ltd., licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
CLE:AU
Cyclone Metals
Overview
Cyclone Metals (ASX:CLE) is a listed exploration and development mining company focused on developing a world-class iron ore project in Canada referred to as project Block 103 or project Iron Bear. The company completed its acquisition of Labrador Iron, which owns 100 percent of the Block 103 magnetite iron ore project in Canada.
Iron Bear is located in the Labrador Trough in Canada, 30 kilometers from the town of Schefferville, and is within 20 kilometers of an open-access heavy haul railway directly connected to the Sept Isles iron ore export port. The Labrador Trough is a well-established and stable iron ore exporting district which harbors numerous iron producers including IOC (Rio Tinto), Champion Iron and Tata Steel, all of which benefit from the same rail and port infrastructure.
Iron Bear is a well-advanced project with over US$35 million of expenditures to date, including mineral resource drilling, metallurgical test work, geological modelling, engineering studies and risk assessments.
A maiden NI 43-101 mineral resource was defined by Watts, Griffis and McOuat in 2013, and updated in April 2024. A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) study was completed by BBA Inc. These independent studies highlight the exciting value embedded in Iron Bear, and the potential to produce large volumes of direct reduction pellets for a low cash cost, leveraging the low stripping ratio (0.4:1), and access to competitive hydro power. The company's upgraded JORC-compliant mineral resource statement and related mineralogical test work results show indicated and inferred mineral resource of 16.6 billion tons containing 29.3 percent total iron and 18.2 percent magnetic iron.
Iron Bear - regional access and infrastructure
As the company ramps up the development of the Iron Bear Project, Cyclone Metals has entered into a binding term sheet with BVI-registered company Moosh Moosh Limited for the sale of its non-core gold assets which include the Nickol River Gold Project tenements in Western Australia, the Longwood Range Gold Copper PGE Project, Mareburn Gold Project, Macraes South Gold Project, Drybread – Waikerikeri Gold Project, and Muirs Gold Project located on the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
Company Highlights
- Cyclone metals owns 100 percent of the world-class Iron Bear iron ore project in Canada and has approximately AU$8 million of liquid investments in ASX listed resource companies.
- The world class Iron Bear iron ore project has an indicated and inferred mineral resource of 16.6 billion tons containing 29.3 percent total iron and 18.2 percent magnetic iron (JORC and NI 43-101- compliant).
- Pilot plant metallurgical test work confirms reasonable prospects for future economic extraction.
- The Iron Bear mineral asset is located in the Labrador Trough, less than 15 kilometers from an open access heavy haul railway directly connected to the Sept Isles iron ore export port.
- Metallurgical test work completed on representative bulk sediment samples delivered a magnetite blast furnace concentrate produced grading 68.7 percent iron with very low deleterious elements and silica below 3.5 percent. The magnetite recovery ration was over 97 percent achieved with industrial processing equipment.
- A preliminary economic assessment suggests that the cash costs for producing blast furnace pellets could be very low, estimated at US$46.5 /t FOB Sept Isles due to a low stripping ratio (1/4) and access to hydropower.
- Iron ore is the world’s second largest commodity by value and underpins the growth of developing nations including China and India. The benchmark 62 percent Fe price has been on average US$95/t CFR China over the last decade. As of 04/12/23 the price of the 62 percent Fe benchmark was US$130/t and the price for BF pellets was US$182/t.
- The Iron Bear iron ore products will be tailored to minimise the carbon footprint of steel producers – further enhancing the value of the project for investors. Test work is ongoing to define an ultra-low carbon direct reduction pellet and concentrate.
- The management team of Iron Bear has communicated a very structured plan to develop the project and deliver value for stakeholders (investors and local communities). The achievement of each milestone is monitored and has clear accountabilities
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Focused on Developing a World-class Iron Ore Asset in Canada, project Iron Bear
