Basemap: total residual magnetic anomaly
Cehegin Iron Ore Spain Update June 2021
As of the end of May the drill program has been moving forward as expected and achieving anticipated objectives.
- Zone 5 – Soledad: The last two drill holes of the six have been completed.
- Zone 3 – El Coloso: Drilling has begun and two of the proposed seven drill holes have been completed. One of them was to twin a drill hole in order to validate the historical data and the other one focused on the exploration of the ore body continuity.
The twin drillhole has confirmed the historical information in terms of elevation and thickness of the mineralized zone. The other, an exploratory drillhole has confirmed the existence of iron ore in the geophysical anomalies studied. Both drill holes did not pass through all the mineralization, which indicates the bodies are open at depth.
The remaining drill holes in zone 3 will be completed by mid-June due to regulations not allowing drilling from July to late August in this area due to potential hazards of forest fires.
Drilling for samples
Here are the key highlights of the update:
Drill Hole #7 reached a depth of 135 meters and is a twin of two holes drilled in 1982. The drillhole met its objective of confirming mineralization and “cuts a very high thickness of the ore body” and remain open at depth. Drill Hole #8 reached a depth of 90.75 meters and cut two mineralized ore bodies between 8.2 and 25.65 meters and 84.4 to 90.75 meters and remain open at depth.
Core preparation is underway for lab testing and results will be communicated as received. A mine plan is being finalized by CRS which needs to be submitted with our request for approval of the 60,000 tonne/year processing plant.
The iron ore content is evident in this short video (below):
Are we entering another commodity Super Cycle?
A common question these days. Many feel we are. The S&P GSCI is a benchmark commodities index and from March 2020 to March 2021 it has risen 86%. Other commodity indexes worldwide are reflecting such statistics. The world needs to catch up from 18 months of COVID and this upcoming “catch up” surge is going to add fuel to the fire of an already very robust future commodity demand.
Core preparation for lab testing
Super Cycles are relatively rare but can last decades. This is a period where broad commodity prices in general increase significantly over many years. There are many reasons for this happening from Central Banks flirting with near zero interest rates; the need for governments to kick start their economies; and the result of companies showing past restraints on additional investment in mineral exploration and capex for production increases. The domino effect is the result.
If the first part of 2021 is any indication a commodities bull market is on the horizon and will have plenty of legs. The future is impossible to predict but all indicators are supporting a very robust steel demand for many, many years to come.
There are huge gains in Chinese industrial activity with many important industrial sectors showing 2021 year to date increases of 15% to over 50% in steel manufacturing, cement, automotive, chemicals and so on.
Data suggests China is liquidating diverse inventories to supply steelmaking ingredients. As well their iron ore imports are up 6.7% or approximately 2 ½ times more than the combined outputs of the largest iron ore miners combined. Higher demand for iron ore and higher prices as we move forward appears to be the norm.
Higher grade iron ore with low impurities, such as Mineworx’s Cehegin deposit, will have an additional premium as the more technically advanced steel mills are searching for such materials to enhance processing in their operations as well as reducing their carbon footprint by way of cleaner burning input materials.
Many factors such as these are an indication of continuing high interest in iron ore projects and increased valuations for concessions such as Cehegin which further benefits shareholder value.
Sincerely,
Greg Pendura
President & CEO of Mineworx