February 27, 2006 - Toronto, Ontario – Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (TSX-V: BIM) (“Baffinland” or the “Company”) today released additional encouraging metallurgical testwork completed at Studien Gesellschaft für Eisenerz-Aufbereitung (“SGA”) in Germany, on the drill core from the advanced exploration of Baffinland’s 100%-owned Mary River iron ore deposits..
Highlights
• REAS tests on 20 composite samples confirmed the high quality of Mary River lump
with all of the samples going to iron metal.
• Additional 55 samples composited to simulate 10 metre open pit mining bench heights
indicated generally high reducibility and excellent lump ore potential.
• Sintering tests, with Mary River samples as a component of standard European sinter
feed mix, confirmed previous indications of superior sintering performance.
• Comprehensive metallurgical testwork on Mary River samples continues to support the
expectation that a majority of future output would be a premium-priced lump.
Metallurgical Results
The initial metallurgical testwork, released in early 2005, was completed on composites based upon iron oxide mineralogy, specifically magnetite content. The press releases and a conference call about the initial metallurgical testwork are archived at www.baffinland.com. The test results support the high lump potential of zones of Deposit No. 1 with high magnetite content. Lump iron ores must have specific physical, chemical and metallurgical characteristics that define how the product will behave in the blast furnace. Reducibility or the generation of hot iron metal from iron oxide is one of several characteristics that define lump ore potential. Reducibility is dependent upon porosity, permeability, grain size mineralogy and, of course, iron content. It is important to recognise that an ore with very high iron content will generally have a lower reducibility than an ore with lower iron content since gangue contains natural fluxes that enable the reduction process.
REAS Tests
REAS results were received for the initial twenty samples composited for metallurgical testing. The REAS test, developed and completed by SGA, examines the samples for their high temperature properties, more specifically the test mimics the blast furnace and determines the softening, melting and dripping behaviour of iron ores in the blast furnace. Melting and dripping was reached for all samples, even the dense, low porosity, magnetite rich samples. To define the results of the REAS tests simply, Dr. Volker Ritz, Managing Director of SGA, stated, “All of the samples went to metal in the REAS tests, thereby further confirming the high quality lump ore potential of the Mary River Project.”
Lump Tests
The remaining 2004 drill core was composited based upon an expected mining bench height of 10 metres. Attempts were made to maintain a minimum weight (> 70 kg) of material to allow complete testing. The additional 55 reducibility results are presented in a table in this press release. Reducibility results were excellent, confirming a high proportion of lump ore in Deposit No. 1. Lump ore commands a significant premium price to fines of about 27% and with diminishing supplies of seaborne lump servicing the European market, this premium is expected to grow over time.
Reducibility is variable amongst the samples, dependent upon iron content, porosity and primary mineralogy. Physically and chemically, all samples from Deposit No. 1, except sample 71 due to its low iron content (~49% Fe), show lump ore potential. However, samples with lower reducibility (< 20% RI) are expected to be blended to ensure an acceptable reducibility. Alternately, it can be crushed and sold as sinter feed. This decision will be based upon receipt of further metallurgical data, technical discussions and negotiations with potential customers.
Examination of composite samples within the expected open pit reveals very positive results: .. Samples with more than 40% hematite are superior lump ores that average approximately 44% RI with an average iron content of 66.5% Fe.
Those samples with less than 40% hematite have lower reducibility averaging approximately 38% RI with an average iron content of 64.7% Fe. Despite the lower reducibility, the potential high magnetite lump product should compete well against acid (high iron) pellets. Further lump and other metallurgical testing is in progress on core from the 2005 drill program. These results will be released upon availability.
Lump tests were completed on samples from Deposit No. 2 which exhibited excellent reducibility results, approximately 40% RI with an average iron content 64.5% and extremely low phosphorous and sulphur content (all below 0.02%). Further testing will examine how these samples behave as potential DRI (Directly Reduced Iron) products. DRI products by-pass the blast furnace in the iron making process and therefore must have very low deleterious elements, low gangue material and a high iron content. Due to the exacting specifications required, a DRI product will command an approximate 10% premium to a normal blast furnace lump feed. The bottom of hole MR2-04-42 in Deposit No. 2 averages more than 68% Fe with extremely low deleterious elements.
Sinter Tests
Testing from the early 1970’s indicated that Deposit No. 1 produced a superior sinter product, however the testing was completed only on sinter feed (less than 6.3 mm sized material) from the Mary River Deposit No. 1. The vast majority of steel mills use a mixture of available sinter feed from different iron deposits from various countries.
Testing of the sinter feed potential from the Deposit No. 1, was on three samples from Deposit No. 1 with low, medium and high magnetite content respectively. All material used was from 2004 drill core material that remained from the initial 20 lump tests, released previously. The sinter feed was added to a “standard sinter feed mix” utilised in Europe. The mix is composed of Brazilian, Australian and Swedish iron ores.
Sinter Test Summary
|
Sintering series |
|
0 (ref.) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Mary River SF magnetite content |
|
low |
medium |
high |
|
Re marks |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sinter test No. |
|
15805 |
15910 |
15915 |
15915 |
|
Moisture content of sinter feed |
(%) |
6.1 |
6.3 |
6.3 |
6.3 |
|
Return fines (pts./100 |
pts. S.f.dry) |
23 |
24.5 |
25 |
25 |
|
Coke breeze (pts./100 |
pts. S.f.dry) |
4.75 |
4.55 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
|
Coke breeze rate |
(kg/t FS) |
51.3 |
49.1 |
49.6 |
49.1 |
|
Sintering temperature [40 % b.h |
(°C) |
1310 |
1270 |
1320 |
1320 |
|
Sintering rate |
(mm/min) |
19.8 |
20.3 |
20.7 |
16.3 |
|
Waste gas at 60 % of test time |
(NmVmin) |
400 |
310 |
325 |
325 |
|
Productivity |
(t/m2x24h) |
40.3 |
41.3 |
42.5 |
42.5 |
|
Productivity series average |
(t/m2x24h) |
38.7 |
38.9 |
39.2 |
38.9 |
Baffinland sinter feed represents a 15% addition to the standard mix to determine how the new mix behaves in the production of sinter. In two of the samples (low and medium magnetite), productivity (t/m2 x 24 hr) increased and the coke breeze rate (kg/t FS) of consumption decreased. In the third sample (high magnetite), productivity was lower but the coke breeze rate of consumption also fell. This is to be expected as the overall magnetite portion in the sinter feed is distinctly increased with the addition of the high magnetite Mary River fines to the already contained magnetite in the reference standard mix. Magnetite rich products are sought after as part of the sinter feed as magnetite is exothermic, that is it creates heat in the reaction and reduces energy costs in the sintering plant; however, a rich magnetite feed will see a lower productivity.
The improvement in productivity and reduced coke consumption in a standard sinter feed mix is extremely encouraging. However, testwork will continue on the 2005 drill core, of which some 12 tonnes has been shipped to SGA. Future testing will look at Baffinland sinter feed as a substitute for specific iron ores in the standard European mix.
Continuing Programs
The management of Baffinland continues to be pleased with the quality of the test results being released today and believes that this SGA data bodes extremely well for the marketing of potential sale products into Europe and elsewhere. Over 18 tonnes of core from the 2005 drilling will be used to continue comprehensive metallurgical testwork for lump and fines at SGA in Germany. “The lump tests are extremely encouraging indicating the potential of a high grade lump product that has generally low levels of deleterious elements, excellent physical characteristics, low contained moisture, coarse grained nature and high iron content,” said Michael T. Zurowski, Executive Vice President. “The sinter tests were particularly pleasing as Baffinland’s expected sinter feed product will be a medium magnetite product that both has lower coke consumption and improved productivity. The International Standards Organisation (ISO) testwork is designed to predict how iron ore will behave in the blast furnace; however the REAS test more effectively simulates the blast furnace and it is extremely positive news that all the samples tested went to metal.”
Although it is still early to specifically define the chemical, physical and metallurgical properties of the expected sale products from a potential 10 million tonne per year direct-shipping ore (DSO) operation at Mary River, management’s current expectations are that over 50 % of the initial decades of output would be a premium-priced hematite-dominant lump product with high reducibility and low levels of deleterious minerals. In addition, more than 20% of the output could be as a magnetite dominant lump with somewhat lower reducibility, somewhat higher levels of sulphur and would compete with acid pellets. The balance of the output, or about 25%, would be as fines for sinter feed. Gordon A, McCreary, President and CEO, stated, “These metallurgical results continue to confirm the DSO potential of the Mary River project and we look forward to the new resource estimate expected in the next few weeks and the Aker Kvaerner Scoping Study expected in about two months."
Additional Disclosure
Assaying and analytical work is performed by SGS Lakefield Research Limited (“Lakefield”) under a strict protocol designed for testing lump iron ores. Samples are then sent from Lakefield to Studien Gesellschaft für Eisenerz-Aufbereitung (“SGA”) in Germany, where samples are composited for detailed metallurgical testing to ISO standards for iron ore. The testwork is specific for lump ores (less than 31.5mm greater than 6.3mm in size). Additional testwork was also completed on fine material (less than 6.3 mm in size) for sintering.
Testwork continues at SGA under the direct supervision of Dr. Volker Ritz, Managing Director of the facility, who has approved the contents of this press release specifically relating to the metallurgical testwork. SGA has 84-years experience as a research centre for iron ore beneficiation, agglomeration and metallurgical testing of burden materials and mineral processing of raw materials for the Iron and Steel Industry and is owned by six European steel mills.
Drill hole metallurgical data was interpreted by Michael T. Zurowski, P. Eng., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
This press release includes certain “Forward–Looking Statements” within the meaning of section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results and future plans and objectives of Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation, are forwardlooking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statement. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Baffinland’s expectations are disclosed under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in Baffinland’s documents filed from time to time with the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. and other regulatory authorities.
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE INC. HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS PRESS RELEASE.
Lump Test Summary
|
|
Composite Sample # |
Reduction Test (ISO 7215) RI% |
Fe % |
Magnetite % |
SiO2 % |
Al2O3 % |
P % |
s % |
Porosity |
Drill Hole # |
|
21 |
61.2 |
57 |
92 |
1.8 |
0.5 |
0.104 |
0.99 |
5.7 |
31 |
|
22 |
33.4 |
63.9 |
90.8 |
3.5 |
1.2 |
0.077 |
0.46 |
5.8 |
31 |
|
23 |
33.2 |
61.8 |
86.3 |
4.7 |
1.3 |
0.088 |
0.67 |
1.1 |
31 |
|
24 |
22.1 |
68.4 |
92.7 |
3.1 |
0.4 |
0.068 |
0.24 |
0.4 |
32 |
|
25 |
33.8 |
63.9 |
99.5 |
1.9 |
0.3 |
0.007 |
0.86 |
3.9 |
33 |
|
26 |
45.9 |
63.4 |
20.3 |
6.9 |
1.3 |
0.025 |
0.1 |
12.2 |
34 |
|
27 |
47.5 |
68.3 |
14.4 |
0.6 |
0.5 |
0.013 |
0.05 |
8.6 |
34 |
|
28 |
49.3 |
67.8 |
34.6 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.008 |
0.23 |
6.7 |
34 |
|
29 |
52.9 |
66.5 |
63.9 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
0.007 |
0.47 |
7.5 |
34 |
|
30 |
52.4 |
65.3 |
27.9 |
1.5 |
1.1 |
0.008 |
1.28 |
10.3 |
37 |
|
31 |
51.9 |
68.1 |
30.5 |
0.5 |
0.3 |
0.005 |
0.41 |
5.1 |
37 |
|
32 |
15.1 |
68.2 |
90.7 |
1.8 |
0.9 |
0.245 |
0.22 |
2.6 |
38 |
|
33 |
18.6 |
67.7 |
88.7 |
1.9 |
0.7 |
0.25 |
0.15 |
3.8 |
38 |
|
34 |
37.2 |
61 |
88.3 |
2.8 |
0.5 |
0.18 |
1.15 |
4 |
38 |
|
35 |
54.1 |
69.6 |
22.8 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.011 |
0.01 |
24.6 |
39 |
|
36 |
31.3 |
63.3 |
56.1 |
7.7 |
0.9 |
0.051 |
0.93 |
9.1 |
39 |
|
37 |
48.5 |
69.1 |
15.4 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.01 |
0.04 |
7.6 |
39 |
|
38 |
14.8 |
63.3 |
87.5 |
6 |
1.7 |
0.255 |
0.35 |
7.3 |
40 |
|
39 |
13.6 |
68.2 |
93.4 |
1.8 |
0.8 |
0.265 |
0.3 |
2.4 |
40 |
|
40 |
12.5 |
69.8 |
95.9 |
1 |
0.4 |
0.13 |
1.01 |
2.3 |
40 |
|
41 |
12.9 |
69.6 |
97.1 |
1.4 |
0.7 |
0.094 |
0.09 |
1 |
40 |
|
42 |
7 |
68.9 |
95.4 |
1.5 |
0.7 |
0.185 |
0.29 |
1.6 |
40 |
|
43 |
15.5 |
65 |
99.3 |
3.5 |
1.9 |
0.117 |
1.39 |
3.5 |
40 |
|
44 |
31.9 |
70.3 |
76.8 |
0.6 |
0.7 |
0.005 |
0.1 |
4.6 |
41 |
|
45 |
36.7 |
67.7 |
87.2 |
1.3 |
0.6 |
0.32 |
1.04 |
12.4 |
41 |
|
46 |
28.7 |
60.4 |
76.8 |
7.4 |
1.9 |
0.31 |
1.13 |
3.3 |
41 |
|
47 |
35 |
61.4 |
11.4 |
9.5 |
1.4 |
0.018 |
0.02 |
1.3 |
42 |
|
48 |
37.2 |
62.3 |
1.5 |
9.8 |
0.5 |
0.011 |
<0.005 |
6.3 |
42 |
|
49 |
41.5 |
55.3 |
1.8 |
18.9 |
0.8 |
0.008 |
<0.005 |
7.9 |
42 |
|
50 |
41.4 |
67.6 |
0.8 |
2.9 |
0.2 |
0.019 |
<0.005 |
7.5 |
42 |
|
51 |
43.6 |
68.5 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
0.2 |
0.017 |
0.01 |
7.8 |
42 |
|
52 |
41.1 |
69.2 |
1.5 |
0.6 |
0.2 |
0.018 |
<0.005 |
4.3 |
42 |
|
53 |
38.3 |
67.5 |
1.3 |
1.6 |
0.8 |
0.02 |
<0.005 |
8.2 |
42 |
|
54 |
42.7 |
64.3 |
31.9 |
6.8 |
0.5 |
0.042 |
0.11 |
13.4 |
44 |
|
55 |
41.4 |
64.7 |
36.2 |
7.2 |
0.5 |
0.016 |
0.01 |
11.9 |
44 |
|
56 |
40.3 |
65.5 |
52.4 |
6.4 |
0.4 |
0.019 |
0.03 |
12.3 |
44 |
|
57 |
45.5 |
66.3 |
67.4 |
3.6 |
1.3 |
0.006 |
0.28 |
13.6 |
44 |
|
58 |
31.7 |
67.8 |
39.4 |
1.3 |
1.4 |
0.027 |
0.02 |
4.9 |
44 |
|
59 |
37.5 |
67 |
47.7 |
0.8 |
0.7 |
0.027 |
0.16 |
11.4 |
44 |
|
60 |
30.5 |
67.1 |
84 |
0.9 |
0.5 |
0.005 |
1.12 |
3.2 |
44 |
|
61 |
29.1 |
60.8 |
83.6 |
1.7 |
1.1 |
0.007 |
1.35 |
2.4 |
44 |
|
62 |
39.3 |
59.6 |
84.8 |
1 |
0.5 |
0.008 |
1.24 |
2.2 |
44 |
|
63 |
38 |
61.5 |
93.1 |
3.6 |
0.6 |
0.006 |
0.91 |
7.2 |
44 |
|
64 |
54.8 |
63.7 |
6.3 |
3.4 |
1.5 |
0.145 |
0.01 |
19.4 |
45 |
|
65 |
50.1 |
62.5 |
4.3 |
3.7 |
1.2 |
0.113 |
<0.005 |
15.1 |
45 |
|
66 |
47.9 |
64.1 |
5 |
2.9 |
0.6 |
0.27 |
<0.005 |
16.6 |
45 |
|
67 |
48 |
63.8 |
7.2 |
3.4 |
0.6 |
0.145 |
0.01 |
16.9 |
45 |
|
68 |
48.9 |
66.9 |
26.4 |
1.8 |
0.5 |
0.079 |
<0.005 |
15.2 |
45 |
|
69 |
43.3 |
65.8 |
56.6 |
4.6 |
0.5 |
0.094 |
0.21 |
13.1 |
45 |
|
70 |
33.7 |
65.4 |
66.6 |
6.9 |
0.3 |
0.094 |
0.06 |
11.1 |
45 |
|
71 |
36.6 |
49 |
62.7 |
10 |
0.7 |
0.048 |
2 |
4 |
45 |
|
72 |
30.3 |
68.8 |
85.1 |
0.9 |
0.5 |
0.06 |
0.13 |
6.9 |
45 |
|
73 |
43.6 |
69 |
69 |
0.8 |
0.4 |
0.012 |
0.14 |
10.2 |
45 |
|
74 |
41.9 |
68.9 |
24.2 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
0.013 |
0.01 |
10.5 |
45 |
|
75 |
39.8 |
69.3 |
23.5 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.014 |
<0.005 |
12.1 |
45 |
|