KFE upgrades Scoping Study to Preliminary Feasibility Study
Perth, Dec 13, 2013 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian based iron ore development company, Kogi Iron Limited (
ASX:KFE) ("Kogi", "Kogi Iron", or the "Company") and it's 100% owned Nigerian operating company, KCM Mining Limited ("KCM") are pleased to advise that the study underway to assess the technical and economic viability for development of the 100% owned Agbaja Iron Ore Project ("Agbaja" or "Agbaja Project") has been upgraded from a Scoping Study to a Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS") and remains on track for completion by the end of Q1 2014.
Highlights
- Assessment of the Agbaja Project now being completed to a Preliminary Feasibility Study level
- Recently completed 466Mt Indicated Mineral Resource underpins the higher confidence level
- Timeline for completion of the Preliminary Feasibility Study remains unchanged - end of Q1 2014
The upgrade to a PFS is founded on the recently completed Indicated Mineral Resource for the Agbaja Project of 466 million tonnes with an in-situ iron ore grade of 41.4% Fe. (refer 10 December 2013 ASX announcement), and the comprehensive and detailed nature of the study work that is currently underway and nearing completion.
As outlined in recent ASX announcements, the level of detail to which the various studies forming the basis of the technical and economic assessment of the Agbaja Project are being completed, are consistent with the requirements of a PFS. The studies underway include preferred mine design (with material movement schedules), a preferred mineral processing method and associated plant design, a transport study, a market study, and an environmental and social impact assessment study. Detailed capital cost and operating cost estimates (including mining, power, barging, slurry pipe and water return) are being obtained from prospective contractors and suppliers, enabling financial modeling of the proposed development.
Kogi Iron's Managing Director, Iggy Tan explained: "The study work embarked on by the Company this year was deliberately specified at a level of detail consistent with the requirement of a PFS in anticipation of the upgrade of the majority of the Mineral Resources at the Agbaja Project from Inferred to Indicated towards the end of this year. The new JORC code (2012) is quite prescriptive in that any technical and economic studies, no matter how detailed, assessing the viability of the development of Inferred mineral resources can only ever constitute a Scoping Study for the purposes of public reporting. The 10 December 2013 ASX announcement by the Company of a 466 million tonne Indicated Mineral Resource at Agbaja was the catalyst to enable the Company to consider upgrading the previously announced Scoping Study to a PFS."
"Advancing straight to a PFS is a credit to the Nigerian and Australian based members of the study team; it positions the Company well to continue to advance the Agbaja Project towards development. This strategy effectively fast tracks the time it takes to reach a development decision by completing the technical and economic assessments of the project to a high level of detail from the outset. This is consistent with Kogi's status as a first mover in Nigeria's iron ore mining industry and our stated aim of becoming an African iron ore producer."
About Macro Metals Limited
Macro Metals Limited is an ASX-listed company (ASX:M4M) with the intent to build a cast steel plant on the Agbaja Plateau in Kogi State, Nigeria. The project will utilise company leased iron ore deposits and will supply a cast steel feedstock to steel manufacturing and product fabricators in Nigeria and overseas.
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