Australian Hualong Pty. Ltd. is developing the 100%-owned Tenth Legion magnetite iron ore project near Zeehan on the west coast of Tasmania.
The Tenth Legion project is located 8km west of Zeehan, and 2km NW from AHL’s Comstock processing plant. The high-grade magnetite deposit is situated on the eastern margin of the Devonian Heemskirk Granite. Between 2012 – 2013, AHL conducted a comprehensive resource definition drilling program and, as a result, a JORC 2012 resource was calculated by independent geologist, Tim Callaghan, in 2014.
The magnetite ore outcrops as lenses along a topographic ridge within calc-silicate altered calcareous siltstone. The ore-body has good continuity along strike and down dip. The resource is amenable for open cut mining.
The Tenth Legion magnetite iron ore resource will be mined in three stages, with Stage One nearing the completion of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) and mine planning, with ground work expected to start early- to mid-2021. The pre-tax profit at current market conditions is estimated to be US$117m from Stage One mining alone. Preparation for Stage Two and Stage Three mining is currently under way.
Based on the JORC resource, Sino Mining Consultants conducted a Stage One mining scoping study in 2015 focussed on the mining of the shallow central and northern portions of the defined resource. The optimised pit shell of Stage One mining includes 200Kt DSO ore @ 59.66% Fe, 1.45Mt oxide ore @ 41.59% Fe and 1.62Mt fresh ore @ 42.30% Fe, as well
as 6.13Mt low grade ore and waste rock. Waste/ore ratio is 1.87/1. After initial mining of DSO ore, a simple low cost crushing and magnetic waste disposal circuit will be constructed at the Comstock processing centre and will produce 1.8mt @ 62% Fe
product during the life of mine.
With current industrial and market parameters, pre-tax profit for Stage One mining is estimated at US$117M.
Stage Two will include mining of the down-dip extension of the resource and extension of the open pit further south. It is expected that total ore mined in Stage Two will be similar to that of Stage One.
Stage Three of the iron ore mining will utilise resource from the Tenth Legion South area. Surface trenching and limited drilling has demonstrated the existence of shallow magnetite occurrences similar to that at Tenth Legion – amenable to open pit mining. Initial estimates of the shallow potential geological resource (down to 50m below surface) is 5.67Mt. Infill drilling is being planned. Mining of Stage Three will not require significant capital investment which will enhance the project’s profitability. All three mining stages are within the current mining lease being granted by the Tasmanian government. There will be no need for a separate mining lease application.
