Macro Metals (ASX:M4M) has secured 25 exploration licences comprising 749km2 across the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The tenure hosts diverse targets, including “high-grade” surface mineralisation uncovered via rock chip sampling through to conceptual targets based on mapping and geophysics.
Macro Metals, which has a market capitalisation of $107.98 million, plans to create a pipeline of regionally proximal projects that can be progressively evaluated and developed to create a multi-mine producer, with diversity of commodity type and product specifications with a variety of logistics pathways.
A technical team has already begun prioritising and ranking these newly acquired targets and the company’s future schedule of exploration programs will be created in due course.
Managing Director Simon Rushton says the company plans to create a multi-generational company that has a portfolio of projects across a range of key commodity groups, starting with steelmaking materials.
“We aim to have multiple small to medium-sized operating sites that together provide Macro with long-life export operations from the Western and Central/Eastern Pilbara regions,” Rushton says.
“Some of these targets are equally as exciting as Cane Bore, Catho Well, Turner, and Goldsworthy, so I am genuinely looking forward to getting agreements in place with the various stakeholders to quickly unlock these tenements and have our team members on the ground as we methodically run through our tenement evaluation and development process.”
The Bungaroo North Project, which lies adjacent to mining giant Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO) Bungaroo Creek Project, has returned multiple rock chip samples of channel and detrital iron mineralisation, recording grades up to 64.18% iron.
Technical executive director Rob Jewson says Bungaroo North has the potential to be a very high-grade valley fill channel iron deposit/detrital iron deposit drill target that warrants immediate sampling and mapping to define the surface extent of the mineralisation.
At the Six Mile Well Project, which lies adjacent to Rio Tinto’s Mesa J operations, rock chip samples include up to 63.51% iron.
Jewson says Six Mile Well is advantageously located directly adjacent to road infrastructure and contains, similarly to Bungaroo North, high surface grades of iron with low deleterious elements.
“Due to the proximity between Bungaroo North and Six Mile Well, both projects will undergo mapping and sampling in the coming weeks,” he says.
The Nammuldi North Project lies adjacent to Rio Tinto’s Nammuldi open iron ore pit and has a target that comprises two discrete zones of goethite mineralisation. The target extends over 900m of cumulative strike.
Jewson says the project represents a bedded iron type deposit style, which is yet to be sampled to determine the grade and deleterious element profile.
“It’s significance is the scale of the target and potential operational synergies with the Turner Project located 20km south,” he says.
At the Deposit 13 Project, Brockman iron formation hosted hematite-goethite mineralisation has been identified in the steep limb of a “large” northwest-southeast trending drag fold. Rock chip results returned up to 61.3% iron.
Jewson adds that Deposit 13 represents a high-grade bedded iron type target which has only had a single sample since 1972.
Meanwhile, at the Mt Margaret North Project, detrital canga-style mineralisation has been mapped with 20 to 30m thickness in places and samples returned grades up to 59.71% iron.
Rushton says separate to the growing iron ore portfolio, the company continues with due diligence into its farm-in and joint venture agreement with Firebird.
“All going well, we intend to apply for a bulk sample permit in the very near future and want to maximise the size of the bulk samples that Macro Mining Services produces and exports to various prospective customers overseas,” Rushton says.
He adds that the company will seek approval for two separate cargos to satisfy enquiries for bulk samples from steelmaking customers.
The export of the two bulk samples could potentially create material cashflow for Macro before the end of this calendar year. Additionally, it could enable the company to engage in discussions with prospective offtake partners for a future manganese project.
“The overwhelming majority of any cash generated will be reinvested as working capital so we can continue to fast track our exploration and evaluation efforts across our growing portfolio of Pilbara assets without needing to dilute shareholders,” Rushton says.
Macro Metals is an iron ore-focused explorer and developer that owns the Cane Bore, Catho Well, and Goldsworthy East projects in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Macro Metals
