Another day, another delay, caused by a combination of wet weather and the effects of COVID-19.
Hawsons Iron has advised that analytical work on an anticipated mineral resources estimate update its flagship project, the Hawsons Iron Project near Broken Hill in New South Wales, has not been completed on time due to the cumulative delaying impact of those factors, and additional time required to process the necessary data.
Managing director Bryan Granzien said independent geological experts H&S Consultants (H&SC) still required a few more weeks to complete this work and submit their report which was now expected by the end of July.
“Our stated intention was to announce this update during the June Quarter and we have done everything in our power to meet that deadline,” he said.
“During our confirmatory drilling program, we experienced several significant rain events on site. This, combined with COVID workforce impacts, saw us pivot swiftly to minimise delays by extending drilling shifts and laboratory processing to around-the-clock operations.
“We completed sufficient drilling, got the samples analysed and had the data sent directly from the laboratory to our competent person at H&SC, but the 3D modelling software has detected some logging calibration inconsistencies which now have to be assessed and rectified.”
A material mineral resource upgrade to 400 million tonnes was announced on October 19, 2021, including a 9 per cent increase in indicated resources to 132 million tonnes, and an 18 per cent increase in inferred resources to 268 million tonnes.
The exploration target published in the maiden resource ASX announcement in 2010 remains at 6–11 billion tonnes.
Granzien said the balance of work being undertaken was unaffected and continuing at pace, including finalisation of product testing work and processing plant flow design which would be announced in the next few weeks.
