re: Ann: 200-250Mt Initial Exploration Target... WC – I suspect...

re: Ann: 200-250Mt Initial Exploration Target... WC – I suspect you know more than you are letting on - yes that is actually correct.

The problem with Mid-West potential magnetite producers (or want to be producers) is that the grind size is predominately between 25 and 30 microns – with exceptionally coarse material up to 34 microns. GIR suggest that at its Yerecoin magnetite project, 80% of the product passes 150 microns resulting in a concentrate grading 69.3% Fe and 3.37% SiO2. Assuming that the vast majority of the Mid West’s ore is approximately 25 micron (which it is), intuitively it means that it will need six times (150/25) more grinding to liberate the magnetite from the silicates in the Mid West than the equivalent at Yerecoin. But that is not the full story. Grinding is extremely energy intensive. I have talked about this to a metallurgist in the past. He gave a gold example where they had to grind something down from 75 microns to 30 microns, which apparently required approximately six times more energy. If one could assume that for every 25 microns in grind size, one would have to double amount of energy required, and that linear relationship were to hold, then the difference in energy consumed as a result of the coarser grind would be 31 times less than that require for an equivalent Mid-West deposit...