According to Mining News Pro - Pilbara-focused junior BCI Minerals has launched a divestment process
for its portfolio of iron ore assets in the Western Australian region.
The
assets include Iron Valley, Kumina, Bungaroo South, Cape Preston East
port rights and several other iron ore exploration tenements.
BCI’s
iron ore portfolio is regarded as one of the largest Pilbara hematite
resource bases outside of those owned by the region’s majors, including
Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue Metals Group.
The company said it had
been approached by multiple parties expressing strong interest in
acquiring its assets since the release of a JORC mineral resource
estimate for the Kumina tenements in June.
“As a result, the board
has resolved to undertake a formal process to explore the potential
divestment of the entire iron ore asset portfolio,” the company said in
an ASX announcement.
“This decision is aligned with BCI’s stated
intent of developing a salt and potash business as the primary focus in
the near term.”
The Kumina estimate included an inferred mineral
resource of 78.3Mt at 59.1 per cent Fe at a 57 per cent cut off, or
115.2Mt at 58 per cent Fe at a 53 per cent cut off.
“Our overall
iron ore tenement package rivals that of any other Pilbara junior, and
this places BCI in a good position from which to participate in future
transaction in the sector,” BCI managing director Alwyn Vorster said in
June.
BCI is also advancing the Mardie salt and sulphate of potash
(SOP) project in the Pilbara. It is aiming for annual production of
3.5Mt of industrial grade sodium chlorate salt and 75,000t of SOP from
solar evaporation at Mardie once it is developed.
The company said
funds from the iron ore divestment process would enable it to rapidly
progress a Mardie definitive feasibility study and maintain 100 per cent
ownership of the project through to a final investment decision later
this year.