Tiny explorer Tempest Minerals’ unexpected Remorse magnetite discovery at Yalgoo in Western
Australia’s Mid West region has taken a small step towards avoiding becoming yet another stranded
iron ore resource in the state.
The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with a WA-based group looking to build
a A$3 billion direct reduction iron plant at Mullewa, just up the road from Remorse.
The group, Green Steel and Iron, has big ambitions. It also plans to build a $400 million green steel
recycling mill using an electric arc furnace at Collie.
Tempest discovered Remorse’s magnetite endowment while drilling a large copper target last year,
delivering a 50-110 million tonne grading 30-32% iron exploration target in December.
The company said given the early stage of work targeting iron within the Yalgoo project, the
exploration numbers were likely conservative.
There’s little point for a junior to throw too much money into a magnetite resource in the Mid West
without at least some inkling of commercial option to do something with it, as the region is littered
with undeveloped magnetite and hematite deposits.
Framework
The MoU with GreenSteel establishes a framework for collaboration to explore potential development opportunities for Remorse, with a focus on producing high-grade magnetite concentrate for use in green steelmaking processes.
If Tempest can define a resource, and unlock the metallurgy, the agreement offers the potential to
fast-track a development.
“By partnering with a leader in green iron steel technologies, as well as a proven developer in the
field, we aim to position Remorse as a near-future supplier of high-grade iron ore for the rapidly
evolving low-carbon steel industry,” Tempest managing director Don Smith said.
Tempest struck grades of up to 39% in its maiden drilling, with additional work planned this quarter
to confirm that the grade and scale are in line with producing magnetite mines.
As a result of the original drill program design targeting the base metal sequence immediately above
the main magnetite zone, only four holes to date have definitively intersected the magnetite.
Read more in this Miningnews article
