Ironclad Mining is making great progress on developing the Wilcherry Hill Iron Ore Project in South Australia. There has been an estimated 69.3 million tonnes of near surface crystalline magnetite ore discovered at Wilcherry Hill. Of this 48 million tonnes is indicated and 21 million tonnes is inferred.
The company recently received permission for a Direct Shipping Ore export program. This makes it the second iron ore mine in the world to supply direct shipping grade magnetite iron ore for export. This comes as a major boost to the project which was first discovered four years ago.
A Native Title Mining Agreement signed by the Gawler Ranges Native Title Claim Group and Executives of IronClad Mining last September provides opportunities for the local Aboriginal people and opens the way for Native Title and Aboriginal heritage clearances.
Over 133,00 meters of drilling have shown a number of iron ore deposits in the area the largest of which is the Hercules deposit about 45 km east of Wilcherry Hill. This will be the future expansion after Wilcherry Hill has been mined out.
The start up cost of the project has been relatively low at around $26 million. The mine would produce about 2 million tonnes of premium direct shipping ore annually once it begins production. The ore will be sold to Chinese steel mills under a sales and marketing agreement that was announced by the company about six months back. Robust profit margins are expected from the sale of the ore.