AIM-listed iron ore and manganese development company, Ferrex, has reported that a drill contract has been signed with Geoserve with two in-country rigs to be mobilised to test a 1.8km zone of iron ore mineralisation at Ferrex's Mebaga DSO Iron Ore Project in northern Gabon.
Ferrex said that it is targeting a maiden JORC resource in the second half of 2013, with the initial drilling campaign expected to take two to three months.
Regional magnetic data had been acquired, with processing and interpretation complete, the company said. Ferrex added that there was "significant project upside potential", saying that magnetic images emphasised that the Mebaga trend incorporated the "most extensive outcropping of banded iron formation horizon in northern Gabon outside of the Belinga trend".
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Dave Reeves, Managing Director of Ferrex, said: "The processing of regional magnetic data is another milestone. Our technical team is confident that there are additional areas of high grade iron mineralisation to be found in the Mebaga trend."
He added: "In addition magnetic images emphasise that we hold 80% of the Mebaga trend, which looks to be the most extensive in northern Gabon outside of the Belinga trend. With these developments in mind I look forward to reporting on further positive results as the exploration programme at Mebaga progresses on a number of fronts."
Ferrex has an 82% interest in the DSO Mebaga iron ore deposit in Gabon, West Africa through its holding in Gabonese holding company Ressources Equatoriales SARL.
The project, which has an exploration target of 20Mt (million tonnes) at 60% iron, is located in an extensive high grade iron ore province which extends from Gabon into the Republic of Congo and Cameroon.
Ferrex's share price was up 0.73% to 1.38p at 11:19 on Monday.
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