The Iron Ridge is a northwest trending Archaean aged granite greenstone terrain of the Yilgarn Craton. It is a marked physiographic feature, 3-5km wide, 40km long, within which there is good exposure of metabasalts showing mainly doleritic and minor basaltic and gabbroic textures. Such exposures occur between ridges defined by weathered, steeply dipping beds of banded iron-formation which form less than 10% of the thickness of the sequence.

The Iron Ridge Project contains one main BIF horizon which exhibits significant iron enrichment in two locations (Wilgie Mia and Little Wilgie Mia). The mineralisation comprises a mixture of banded hematite (specular and earthy, goethite and shaly limonite iron ore. It has been documented that the primary ore mineral is martite. The ore lenses have formed by remobilization of iron and replacement of jaspilites (BIF) during deep-seated thermal metamorphism. Subsequent supergene oxidation, leaching and hydration of the iron ore has resulted in the formation of goethite and the concentration of secondary hematite (occasionally in the form of red ochre).

Three parallel to sub-parallel ranges of BIF occur on the tenement. The Main BIF (mapped as hematite) is approximately 50m wide, with much thinner (several metres) BIF ridges to the south (designated Little BIF 1 and 2 respectively). Little BIF 1 and 2 are defined by discontinuous goethitic outcrops at a lower elevation than the Main BIF.

The Iron Ridge deposit ........

Open pit mining and crushing and screening operations commenced in December 2020. Production had commenced at the Iron Ridge Project, with Lump and Fines products being stockpiled at the Port of Geraldton in preparation for the first shipment, which subsequently took place in February 2021. Average grade shipped for 2022 year was 61.9% Fe for fines (FY21: 61.2%) and 64.3% Fe for lump product (FY21: 63.9%), further displaying the unique high-grade, high-quality nature of the Iron Ridge ore body. The project-to-date lump to fines ratio of 47%:53% continues to be significantly higher than the life-of-mine assumed average of 25%:75%. Open pit mining using conventional drilling and blasting, followed by loading and hauling by excavators and trucks was selected as the preferred mining method. The mine will consist of a single open pit operation adopting 10m benches and mining these benches in 3 flitches. Ore and waste will be hauled to the ROM pad and waste dump respectively.

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