Fe shows increased confidence in Wiluna West deposit

JWD is now a 60/40 JV between Fe and GWR, who owns the 130 million tonne Wiluna West iron ore project, almost 700 kilometres east of Geraldton.

Fe paid a refundable $1 million deposit on the acquisition, with a total price tag of $2.5 million on the option.

The company will have three months to action the option which will align with the company’s expectations for the first 300,000 tonnes to be transported by September 2021.

Fe executive chairman Tony Sage said the project had been working well.

“We are pleased to have this option to grow our exposure to JWD,” he said

“The project is shaping up well and this structure should allow us to see the project move into production before we need to exercise the option, providing us with valuable insight to guide our decision.”

The two companies re-negotiated the terms of the joint venture earlier in May, with Fe effectively paying $125,000 to extend its allotted timeframe to transport the first 300,000 tonnes from October 2021 out to January 2022.

Despite expecting the transport to occur by September, Sage said the renegotiation made perfect sense.

“We are pleased to have been able to agree to some common-sense modifications to the JWD mining rights agreements and thank GWR for their assistance in doing so. We look forward to creating value for both sets of shareholders,” he said.

The JWD deposit has a resource of 10.7 million tonnes at a high grade of 63.7 per cent iron.