Padbury Mining high quality iron ore concentrate can be achieved at Telecom Hill

Padbury Mining (ASX: PDY) has started to unlock the potential of the Telecom Hill magnetite deposit, part of the Peak Hill joint venture.

Davis Tube Recovery (DTR) results at the main BIF target indicate a high-quality concentrate of above 65% iron can be achieved, and importantly with low impurities and mass recoveries of about 22%.

Padbury said that all holes intersected in BIF 1 contain magnetite mineralisation which can be upgraded, demonstrating a high degree of geological continuity.

Adding to the potential at Peak Hill, the mineralisation remains open along strike to the east and at depth.
Padbury has already commenced work on an updated resource estimate to include the new DTR data.

The project hosts an Inferred JORC Resource of 850 million tonnes at 27.3% iron at Telecom Hill, with the best intersection to date 198 metres at 34.2% iron.

Importantly the resource was defined from just 4 kilometres of a 10 kilometre strike length, and therefore is likely to see a significant boost to the resource base in 2011 from further drilling.

Gary Stokes, managing director, said “The DTR analysis is very encouraging and enables us to move into the next phase of project development with additional confidence.”

The company will now focus on additional drilling to further delineate the project’s magnetite deposit, with a new drill program to define a hematite resource and the completion of a conceptual mining study.

Aurium Resources (ASX: AGU) holds 70% of Peak hill, with Padbury Mining (ASX: PDY) 30%.

The project is located in the Mid-West region of Western Australia which has recently grown in stature as a significant iron ore province.

Other major operating and prospective mine projects nearby include Weld Range (Sinosteel Midwest Corp), Jack Hills (Crosslands Resources) and Mt Gould (Atlas Iron).

Peak Hill has an exploration target of 3.5 to 5 billion tonnes at 25% to 35% iron, and covers a significant 2500 square kilometres.

Originally published at: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/17597/padbury-mining-high-quality-iron-ore-concentrate-can-be-achieved-at-telecom-hill-17597.html