IRON ORE: Rockex updates Lake St. Joseph PEA to $9.4B NPV before tax

ONTARIO – Toronto-based Rockex Mining Corp. has updated the preliminary economic assessment for its Lake St. Joseph iron project 100 km northeast of Sioux Lookout. At a pre-tax, 6% discount the project could have a net present value of $9.42 billion and a 22.5% internal rate of return. The PEA is based on an operation that would produce 4.3 million tonnes of hot briquetted iron (HBI) per year at a grade of 94% Fe over a 30-year mine life. The mill will be fed by the Eagle Island iron ore deposit and its 512 million tonnes of in-pit indicated resources averaging 28.9% Fe. The property has additional resources outside the pit as it is currently planned. The total indicated resource is 1.29 billion tonnes at 29.39% Fe, and the inferred resource is 108 million tonnes at 31.03% Fe. The Lake St. Joseph project has an estimated initial investment need for $3.77 billion, not including sustaining capital. The total cost of production will be $135.35/tonne HBI. Rockex has included details of the project in the Oct. 14, 2015, news release posted at RockexMining.com.