Australian iron ore miner IMX Resources Limited has announced that it has signed a strategic alliance agreement with China's Sichuan Taifeng, a Chinese group with resource and mining investments, real estate developments, machinery manufacturing and trading facilities, and with Sichuan Metallurgical Geological and Exploration Bureau (SMGEB), a China-based professional exploration and minerals development bureau.
According to an IMX release, the aim of the strategic alliance is to seek new projects in which to cooperate, in evaluating new investment opportunities, as well as to investigate opportunities for participating in existing IMX projects with the aim of accelerating exploration and development.
IMX managing director Duncan McBain said, "The strategic alliance represents an opportunity for IMX to partner with a well regarded organization like SMGEB and gain access to their facilities and human resources," also adding, "The access to such a pool of expertise opens up the possibility for IMX to fast track exploration and evaluate more opportunities than it could do by just utilizing its own internal resources."
The alliance will not impact on any existing relationships or agreements that IMX has, and leaves IMX free to pursue opportunities with other groups in the future as they may arise, IMX said.
IMX runs the Cairn Hill project near Coober Pedy, South Australia, which is expected to export about 1.7 million metric tons of ore a year via Port Adelaide when it is completed. The mine currently has inferred and indicated resources of 11.4 million metric tons, at 49.5 percent iron, 0.4 percent copper and 0.1 percent gold.