PUTU IRON ORE RESOURCE MORE THAN DOUBLES TO 2.4 BILLION TONNES
African Aura Mining Inc. (“African Aura” or the “Company”), the TSX‑V (AUR) and AIM (AAAM) listed exploration and development company is pleased to announce an updated independent National Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource Estimate at its 38.5% owned Putu iron ore project in Liberia.
· Inferred resource increased to 2.4 billion tonnes of iron mineralisation at 34% Fe
· Test work on magnetite BIF indicates a high grade concentrate can be produced
· Potential for direct shipping ore exists to generate near term cash flow
· Aggressive drilling campaign underway and expected to total >60,000m
· Potential for a further 1 to 2.5Bt below current modelled optimised pit shell
Luis da Silva, Chief Executive of African Aura, commented:
“The more than doubling of the resource at the Putu iron ore project in Liberia to 2.4Bt is further excellent news for African Aura’s shareholders. The headline objective of African Aura and our joint venture partner Severstal Resources was a 2Bt tonne resource and I am very pleased that this has rapidly been achieved. We expect to upgrade this resource to the indicated category during 2011. The JV partners are mindful of the importance of moving the project forward as efficiently as possible, for the benefit of the local communities and all other stakeholders, and I look forward to providing updates on progress in due course.
This news also comes on top of our announcement last week of a maiden 1Bt resource at our 100% owned Nkout iron ore project in Cameroon. African Aura’s attributable iron ore inventory has increased fivefold in short order, from 0.38Bt at 34% Fe in 2010 to the current 1.96Bt at 34% Fe (equivalent to 666Mt of contained iron) and with the potential for significant further growth from here. The rationale for the proposed split of the Company into separately listed iron ore and gold companies, with shareholders in African Aura receiving one share in each company for each share they hold in African Aura, is a means to allow the market to better measure and reflect the intrinsic value of our assets which is becoming increasingly apparent.”
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