AMID all the hullabaloo about iron ore and Western Australia's Pilbara region, it is easy to miss the work of others across the nation, trying to stake their own claim in the high-margin business.
Take Sydney-based PlatSearch, for example: a mining minnow worth a mere $15.04 million that not only wants to be a player on the domestic iron ore scene, but also wants to change the perception that NSW is not rich in iron ore.
In doing so, it will possibly introduce a third major type of iron ore on to the business landscape - maghemite.
While scouring the palaeochannels in western NSW for precious metals, PlatSearch appears to have stumbled on the maghemite, which has a chemical formula identical to that of hematite - the form of iron ore most preferred by steel producers.
PlatSearch is looking to capitalise on the work already done in terms of identifying the palaeochannel targets courtesy of aeromagnetic surveys done by the NSW government. The maghemite occurs in relatively shallow, unconsolidated gravels and PlatSearch hopes it might be amenable to low-cost bulk surface mining.
PlatSearch managing director Bob Richardson says it is inevitable that people will associate maghemite with magnetite ore, an ore of lower quality than hematite and generally in need of upgrading before it can be used in a steel mill.
"We expect maghemite to behave a lot like hematite," Richardson says.
"We haven't done enough drilling yet to quantify a resource.
"But we think we have most of the palaeochannels locked up in the region, which means the project could stretch for many hundreds of kilometres.
"If it all comes together, the potential is very large, and it could easily end up rivalling some of the projects in WA."
Richardson says there is rail nearby to both Cobar and Newcastle.
"When compared to WA, it has a lot of advantages," he says.
"It's flat terrain, lots of infrastructure and very easy country to operate in. This has been sitting under people's noses for some time."
Last week PlatSearch released updated drilling results: a testing pattern of six lines of holes across six palaeochannels intersected iron-rich gravels.
While the iron grades are quite low - between 15 and 35 per cent - PlatSearch believes the ore can be easily upgraded using "off the shelf" beneficiation technology.
Early work indicates that the mineralisation could be upgraded to concentrates grading up to 53 per cent.
PlatSearch has formed a 100 per cent-owned subsidiary company, Eastern Iron Limited, from which it will develop the project.
Eastern Iron Limited may be listed eventually to generate funds to advance the project, Richardson says.
PTS Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
