LABRADOR – Vancouver's Cap-Ex Iron Ore is looking into the Block 103 iron ore property in western Labrador and undoubtedly seeing it as a potentially important pellet producer. The recent preliminary economic assessment put the inferred resource at 7.8 billion tonnes grading 29% total Fe and 18.4% magnetic Fe.
Developing the project will not be cheap; it has an initial capital cost of $4.19 billion to reach start-up of the first production line in 2018. By the time a second line is operation, the total capital commitment will be $5.98 billion to create an operation that produces 16.6 million tonnes of pellets per year. These numbers include $2.28 for the pellet plant, but the costs of closure, equipment leasing and sustaining capital will be extra. Total operating costs (excluding royalties) are expected to be $62.87 per tonne of pellets FOB Sept-Iles, QC, over the first 30 years of production during which time 1.9 billion tonnes of ore will be mined. The study further assume the use of existing railways, hydroelectric power from Nalcor, and ship loading facilities at Sept-Iles.
"We are exceptionally pleased with the results of our PEA, especially since we are basing it on only 25% of our currently defined mineral resource estimate," says Graham Harris, CEO of Cap-Ex. "We are now able to continue developing the Block 103 property and further our discussions with potential strategic partners."
Detailed financial analysis of the Block 103 PEA is available at Cap-Ex.ca.
Comments