core sector communique

Sheffield increases iron ore footprint in the Pilbara

 

KEY POINTS

·             Two additional tenements granted in world class Pilbara iron ore region – both tenements are highly prospective for iron ore

·             High grade hematite to 65.3% Fe from initial reconnaissance sampling

·             Strategy to grow an iron ore position in the Pilbara, building on management’s successful track record in the region

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Bulk minerals explorer Sheffield Resources (“Sheffield”) (ASX:SFX) today announced the grant of two additional iron ore tenements located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

 

The tenements E47/2280 “Three Pools” and E47/2291 “Eagle Pool”, which together constitute the Four Pools project, are located approximately 25km north-northwest of Newman and lie in close proximity to several large iron deposits (see Figure 1).

 

The granting of these tenements follows a successful ballot and increases Sheffield’s footprint in the region which is consistent with its iron ore strategy at the time of its recent IPO and ASX listing.

 

The Pilbara is familiar territory for Sheffield’s Board who previously founded successful iron ore explorer Warwick Resources Limited. Warwick had a market capitalisation of $80 million at the time of its merger with Atlas Iron Limited (ASX:AGO, current market capitalisation: $1.9 billion) in 2009.

 

Managing Director, Bruce McQuitty said that, despite the strong competition for tenure, one of Sheffield’s strategic goals is to build an iron ore position in the Pilbara.

 

“The Pilbara is elephant country for iron ore and familiar territory for Sheffield’s management team.”

 

“Iron ore is the second arm of our exploration strategy. We are seeking to grow our iron exploration portfolio to balance a strong position in mineral sands and talc. This will provide our shareholders with leverage to both the current steel feeds cycle and the emerging ceramics-fillers-pigments cycle.”

Four Pools Project

 

Sheffield’s geologists recently identified high grade iron mineralisation on both the Three Pools and Eagle Pool tenements during preliminary reconnaissance ). 

 

The Three Pools tenement E47/2280 overlies two synclines cored by the Boolgeeda Iron Formation. Preliminary mapping has identified strong iron enrichment associated with both the Boolgeeda Iron Formation and a banded iron formation within the Wongarra Volcanics. The Boolgeeda Iron Formation is known to host several significant iron deposits, including FMG’s Horatio deposit and Atlas Iron’s Hickman and McCamey’s North discoveries.

 

The Eagle Pool tenement E47/2291 contains channel iron deposit (CID) mineralisation possibly related to the Coondiner Creek CID system. Two samples taken from these occurrences returned assay results of 60.50% Fe and 55.28% Fe respectively.

 

Further mapping and sampling is planned for the first half of 2011 to fully evaluate the iron potential and to identify targets for initial drilling.