Sheffield Resources rock chips return high grade iron
Bulk minerals explorer Sheffield Resources has announced high grade iron results from rock chip sampling on its tenements located in the eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Initial helicopter-supported reconnaissance took 40 samples, which outlined new zones of iron enrichment on three of Sheffield’s four recently granted iron ore tenements in the region.
The most significant results are from the Three Pools project located 22km north of Newman, where five substantial areas of high grade iron mineralisation have been outlined.
A total of 25 samples from the project averaged 63.0% iron with low to moderate levels of impurities.
Profiles of the iron enrichment in outcrop show evidence of mineralisation extending to depth.
The iron mineralisation at Three Pools is 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 in the Pilbara, including FMG’s Horatio deposit and Atlas Iron’s Hickman and McCamey’s North discoveries.
Sheffield Resources managing director Bruce McQuitty said the results at Three Pools demonstrate the company’s ability to identify new iron ore targets from greenfields projects.
“Sheffield’s experienced exploration team have outlined five significant zones of mineralisation at Three Pools within just three months of the granting of the tenements,” he said.
“We plan to prove up these targets fairly quickly and to consolidate further iron projects with the aim of attaining sufficient size and scale to unlock an infrastructure solution in the region.”
Detailed mapping and sampling will be undertaken at Three Pools during the latter half of Q2 2011 ahead of drilling planned for Q3.
Other results from the reconnaissance work include:
The identification of Channel Iron Deposit (CID) and minor bedded iron enrichment on the Eagle Pool tenement located 4km west of the Three Pools project, and
The outlining of a zone of iron mineralisation with a strike length of approximately 500m to 600m with a thickness of between 20m and 40m at Sheffield’s Panorama project located near Atlas Iron’s Abydos mining centre. Seven rock chip samples from this zone averaged 59.8% iron, although phosphorous levels were elevated.