PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study into the Razorback iron project, in South Australia, has confirmed ASX-listed Magnetite Mines’ view that the project could be economical, prompting the company to seek funding to progress to a prefeasibility study.

The scoping study showed that a small-scale, staged operation producing high-grade concentrate from a lower cost initial operation would be the preferred option, with the established transport-related infrastructure the preferred approach to delivering the high-grade iron product to market.

“The scoping study has confirmed the board’s view that the Razorback iron project is uniquely placed within the global high grade iron market as the infrastructure required to develop the project is largely in place with spare capacity available and the project amenable to staging,” said Magnetite chairperson Peter Schubert.

He noted that unlike most pre-development and current magnetite projects in Australia, the Razorback project did not require large-scale capital investment, and was not reliant on third parties for new infrastructure in order to develop the potentially economically viable asset.

“By using existing rail and port infrastructure and starting at a small scale, we can avoid the need for high upfront capital and associated long lead times that are typical for many iron-ore startups. Together with the availability of grid power and water sources in close proximity to the mine site, the project is ideally situated to exploit these advantages.”

Schubert said that should the Razorback project start production, Magnetite has already identified a range of opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce the projected operating costs.

“The large resource gives us substantial expansion potential in later stage development of the project, generating further scale economies. Based on the results of the scoping study and strong market fundamentals, there is a sufficient degree of confidence to progress the project to the prefeasibility study stage.”