for those interested in a speculative high grade iron ore opportunity, then WGO may be worthy of investigation, given drilling is due to commence later this month
WGO has 208,933,736 shares & options on issue, $6m in cash, with options worth another $6.2m if exercised
WGO is targeting 1 to 2 billion tonnes of high grade iron ore
the WGO project is in the world class West Africa iron ore belt, in Congo, just 150km away from SDL's high grade project
SDL has two iron ore deposits: (1) Mbarga in Cameroon and (2) Habebea in Congo
WGO is also in Congo
The SDL Mbarga deposit has 59% hematite and the SDL Habebea (Congo) deposit has 62.3% hematite.
The SDL deposits also include underlying 38% grade itabirite hematite
The southern Habebea (Congo) deposit has higher grades and lower impurities than the northern Mbarga deposit
Further south is the WGO Youkou Project. WGO are theorising, based on the magnetic signature, the Youkou Project is all high grade hematite and has no low grade itabirite
So the impression gained is the quality of the iron ore is improving as one travels south
Rock chip samples by WGO (12 May 2011) have demonstrated possibly higher grade & hihger quality iron ore than SDL, with lower impurities, especially phosphoros, at surface. At surface, the SDL Habebea deposit has at least 0.15% phosphoros and Mbarga 0.25% (17 March 2011). So WGO iron ore may be suitable for SDL to use for blending.
[To convert P2O5 to P, multiply by 0.4364]
SDL propose to construct a railway from Habebea in the Congo, through Cameroon. Therefore, if WGO prove up a similar deposit, then a mere 150km spur line is required from Youkou to Habebea. This would cost a developer around $750m to build.
WGO are scheduled to commence drilling towards the end of this month (July 2011)
SDL has 500mt of high grade hematite and 2 billion tonnes of low grade itabirite
If Youkou has 1 billion tonnes of high grade ore then $50m WGO can become another $1 billion SDL
Risk/reward, DYOR
Regards
MBM Price at posting:
25.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held