In May 2008 De Grey entered into a farm-out and joint venture agreement, the Beyondie Ion Joint Venture, with Emergent Resources Limited. Emergent has subsequently incurred exploration expenditure in excess of $1.75 million to earn 80% interest in iron ore and associated minerals on De Grey’s exploration licences E52/1806 and E52/2215, located midway between Western Australia’s Mid-west and Pilbara iron ore provinces.
Emergent’s work at Beyondie has defined an inferred resource of 561Mt @ 27.5% Fe1 in magnetite iron mineralizationon E52/1806 and potential for an additional 480-510Mt1 of mineralisation at a similar grade in direct strike extensions. Additional work on neighbouring E52/2215 has also indicated potential for an additional 3.7-4.2 billion tonnes of mineralization.
De Grey’s 20% interest in the joint venture is free carried to a decision to mine.
De Grey retains the rights to all non-iron ore minerals on the two Beyondie tenements, which include the Copper Hills base metal prospect.
1Refer to Emergent Resources’ ASX release dated 25 November 2009
Beyondie magnetite iron resource and resource definition targets