Australian Critical Minerals (ASX:ACM) has identified the potential for direct shipping ore at its Shaw Project in Western Australia following the receipt of assays from a mapping and sampling program.
The program, conducted during September and November 2024, returned 65% iron, 61% iron, and three samples at 60% iron.
The company says grades in excess of 60% iron are considered high-quality as they represent material that is generally classed as direct shipping ore (DSO). DSO is considered an advantageous product since it can be fed directly into iron-making blast furnaces.
Notably, the sampling work identified a high-priority area within a 3kim-by-100m banded iron formation (BIF), which extends over a 500m length.
The focus zone is host to the majority of the high-grade results reported today, and the company says it will now begin planning for drilling rig access in the coming weeks.
Managing Director Dean de Largie says the latest results show that high-quality mineralisation is present.
“It is worth noting that pure hematite has 69.9% iron, thus the Shaw results demonstrate a top-class, potentially direct shipping ore product,” de Largie says.
“These consistently high results of up to 65% iron support the company’s vision that this project could be developed into an asset of interest to current producers.”
Separately, a program of works is being planned at the Cooletha Project, also in Western Australia, to construct access tracks and drilling pads in the new year. A drilling program is planned to initially begin in the Cooletha West region.
Australian Critical Minerals is an explorer focused on developing a portfolio of critical minerals projects in Western Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Australian Critical Minerals
