Beowulf plans to begin pilot production from Kallak deposits early next year
Beowulf Mining (LON:BEM) said that it hopes to begin pilot scale production from its Kallak iron project in Sweden early next year.
The move to accelerate development of the project was announced as Beowulf unveiled encouraging assay results from a drilling programme on the Kallak South area.
They revealed the presence of high grade iron ore of up to 34 per cent iron over widths of up to 400 metres. And they appear to confirm the presence of more than 400 million tonnes of ore at this particular deposit.
A bench-scale metallurgical study is being carried out on drill samples, including a Davis Tube recovery test, to assess the exact grade of the iron ore from Kallak South.
So far only ten drill holes have been sunk for 951 metres out of a 3,500 metre programme. After this is completed the drill rig will return to the Kallak North deposit.
In the meantime the company will use the results of 2010 drill campaign to compile a maiden JORC-compliant resource estimate for Kallks North and South.
The group, lead by chairman Clive Sinclair-Poulton, is also applying to the Swedish authorities for mining licences, which will first require an environmental impact study.
This will then pave the way for the pilot scale production to begin in the first quarter of next year, with the finished pellets containing around 70 per cent iron shipped to potential customers later in 2012.
Sinclair-Poulton said: “These initial assay results for Kallak South again demonstrate the Kallak project’s considerable potential. The quality of our iron ore remains high while the quantity continues to increase. “This combination fully justifies our seeking to accelerate the process of getting Kallak into potential production as soon as possible.”
One revelation from these early Kallak South drill results is that the northerly extension of the deposit is found under 15 metre thick glacial over-burden, which compares with the two-metre cover seen elsewhere.
The latest campaign has targeted an east to west section that cuts across the central section of Kallak South.
