British mineral exploration and development company Afferro Mining Inc. announced today, on April 23, positive drill results from the Nkout iron ore project in Cameroon ahead of an update on the resource estimate, which is expected in the current quarter, to expand the resource estimate delivered in November 2011.
The report released by Afferro Mining showed that drilling at Nkout has identified zones in the Nkout Centre and Nkout East deposits containing potential direct shipping ore (DSO).
The intercepts, according to the company, included 47 metres grading 60.7 percent iron and 61 metres at 59.9 percent iron from Nkout Centre and 53 metres at 58.2 percent iron from Nkout East.
"Development of Nkout continues apace, with the current cash position seeing Afferro fully funded for the coming two years," commented Affero CEO Luis da Silva, adding "The focus on identifying and delineating additional DSO is delivering excellent results. With further high grade ore the project will have a clearly defined first phase, which would boost the economics, already underpinned by a large magnetite BIF resource. Early metallurgical testing has suggested that this is a very high quality magnetite resource. Results from the initial exploration drilling programme at Ntem are also due in the near future"
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Afferro Mining had stated in November that prospective reserves at its Nkout iron ore project in southern Cameroon were estimated at 4 billion mt, with an expected mining life of 50-70 years.