Burley Minerals (ASX:BUR) has received all necessary approvals to begin a maiden drilling program in April, at the Cane Bore Iron Project in Western Australia.
The maiden drilling program at the Cane Bore South target will comprise 34 reverse circulation holes to test the grade and depth of the channel iron deposit (CID) across 2.3km of strike.
Cane Bore’s south target has an area of more than 80 hectares extending more than 2.3km of strike distance and averages 350m wide and over 20m high. The company notes 23 rock chip samples were collected from outcropping and sub-outcropping CID with average grades of 53% iron.
An initial heritage survey has been recently completed by Traditional Owners, the Pinikurra people. The Pinikurra people have native title rights over the south target.
CEO Stewart McCallion says the Pinikurra survey team were a pleasure to work with and the company has traversed the full extent of the south target on the Cane Bore Project.
“We were accompanied by consultants from Echoes Cultural Heritage Management who directed the team and carefully recorded the survey data,” McCallion says.
“Access to the site was facilitated via existing tracks and it looks like a bushfire passed through recently which made getting around the south target very easy.”
Burley is preparing to mobilise drill equipment and crew for the upcoming drilling program at the south target.
Additionally, the company is planning heritage surveys for the second and third drill targets, with the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation, and Safety program of work already in place.
McCallion is bullish on the iron ore sector, recently telling this news service he believes there are some very good opportunities for companies with strong balance sheets and cash flows.
The CEO says the Pilbara will continue to be the best location for iron ore mining for a generation and majors are considering replenishing their diminishing reserves, meaning conditions favour M&A.
Iron ore is the main ingredient in steelmaking, which requires about 1.6 tonnes of the commodity to produce one tonne of steel. According to BHP (ASX:BHP), the world uses 20 times more iron (in the form of steel) than all other metals combined.
Burley’s Cane Bore Iron Project spans 222km2 of the Pilbara near majors such as Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), both of which have large CID resources.
Burley Minerals is a junior mineral explorer focused on its iron ore and lithium projects located in Western Australia and Québec, Canada.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Burley Minerals
