RES
YEAR 24
KEYMILESTONES
Burley targeting Pilbara iron ore boom 2 0
2025 will mark the start of an aggressive exploration plan aimed at delivering a resource for Burley Minerals’ (ASX:BUR)CaneBoreIronProjectinWesternAustralia.
Cane Bore spans 222km2 of the state’s well-endowed Pilbara region near majors such as Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN)andRioTinto(ASX:RIO),bothofwhomhave large ChannelIronDeposits(CID)resources
Burley has identified nearly 1,500 hectares of potential CID resourcewithintheCaneBoreexplorationlicencearea
The project sits about 90km from Onslow and the Port of Ashburton, along the western margin of the Hamersley Basin Cane Bore is adjacent to the Northwest Coastal Highway and the Onslow Road, leading to the Port of Ashburton, which offers the potential for low transport costs
The west Pilbara has not enjoyed the same flurry of development that the more popular regions of Karratha/Dampier, Roebourne/Wickham and Port Hedland haveinthepasttwodecades
With Mineral Resources having started shipping out of the Port of Ashburton just south of Onslow early this year, that looks about set to change and Burley Minerals is on the frontfoot
Managing Director Stewart McCallion – whose past experience includes stints with Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Roy Hill businesses as well as mining heavyweight Vale – tells Miningcomau in an exclusive interview that this is important for up and comers like Burley Minerals because it is opening up new permanent infrastructureandabigexportfacilityinOnslow.
“Up to this date, Onslow was largely oil and gas, Wheatstoneetcetera,butnowwe’reexportingmineralsout ofOnslow,”hesays.
“Cane Bore has been on our radar for a few years now In September we finally received the exploration licence to exploreatCaneBore
“Our geologists years ago identified that this particular areaisveryprospectiveforchannelirondeposits”
Vast CID potential
CIDsarereformedirondepositsthatarenotquiteasoldas the banded iron formation (BIF) deposits mined in the Pilbara WhileCIDmayhavealowergrade,theyarevalued for their low mining and processing costs, and do not require an intermediate step (ie ‘sintering’) before going intoablastfurnace
McCallion likens them to “little iron balls” that precipitated inwhatwasonceanoldriverchannel
The more general Cane River area was explored for iron resourcesinthelate1960s,butonlywide-spacedsampling of surface materials was reported Some 18 rock chip samples were collected over the extent of the Cane Bore exploration licence application area, returning assay resultsbetween45%and543%iron
More recent reconnaissance work completed by Burley –using recent satellite imagery, multi-spectral imagery, topographic data and extrapolation of known regional resources – delineated more than 30 linear kilometres of potentialCIDmineralisation
In mid-November, Burley completed its own rock chip sampling, which returned results of up to 569% iron, which if this were to undergo calcination would increase that to 63.6%iron.
Toputthatinperspective,thegradeofMinRes’394-million tonneresourceatKen’sBoreisaround56%,asisRioTinto’s 326-million-tonneRobeValleyoperation.
Other significant CID resources in the region include API Management's West Pilbara Iron Ore Project, which hosts 433 million tonnes @ 562% iron, and CZR Resources’ (ASX:CZR) Robe Mesa Project so far comprising 334 million tonnes@55%iron
Burley collected 81 samples across the East Flank of Cane Boreovermorethan500hectaresofprospectiveCIDarea, withgradesaveraging526%iron(588%calcinediron)
The junior explorer, which has a market capitalisation of $87 million, says the results clearly indicate iron mineralisation at the surface, supporting historic sampling andrecentreconnaissancework
This is just the first batch of results from the rock sampling program Assay results from the West Flank are expected soon
“
Cane Bore has been on our radar for a few years now. In September we finally received the exploration licence to explore at Cane Bore. Our geologists years ago identified that this particular area is very prospective for channel iron deposits
Next stop...drilling
“Everything is ticking along really nicely for Cane Bore,” McCallionsays
The completion of rock chip sampling paved the way for meetings with Traditional Owner groups, and Burley is now linedupforheritagesurveys
Access and Heritage Protection Agreements were signed by the Buurabalayji Thalanyji People and the Puutu Kunti Kurrama People and Pinikura People #1 and #2 (PKKP) in 2022and2023,respectively
The Thalanjyi People have Native Title over the Western sectionoftheexploration licence area, while the PKKP People have Native Title over theSouthernsection
The northern part of the exploration area is undetermined for Native Title, however Burley has contacted the Robe River Kuruma Aboriginal Corporation for a heritage agreementinthisarea
Thegroupsareexpectedtoconfirmtimingandcostssoon
Meanwhile, the program of work for maiden drilling over theprioritytargetsontheEastFlankiswiththeDepartment of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety for approval.
McCallionsaysCaneBorewillbethekeyfocusforBurleyin 2025.“Weareliningupheritagesurveysforthefirstquarter which will be closely followed by the maiden drilling program,”McCalliontellsMining.com.au.
“The maiden drilling program is designed to identify an inferred resource All going to plan, the inferred resource will allow us to develop a Scoping Study in the second quarter,whilealsoprovidingagoodindicationofwhatthe potential project's development envelope looks like, facilitatingenvironmentalstudies
“This initial phase of work will lead into the next drilling program to improve resource confidence, and advance feasibilitystudiesandenvironmentalapprovals”
At the end of the September quarter, Burley had $134 millioncashinthebank
The West Perth-based company also owns the Broad Flat Well and Yerecoin iron projects in the Pilbara and Perth regionsofWesternAustraliaandtheChubbLithiumProject inQuébec
“The maiden drilling program is designed to identify an inferred resource. All going to plan, the inferred resource will allow us to develop a Scoping Study in the second quarter, while also providing a good indication of what the potential project's development envelope looks like, facilitating environmental studies
