Empire Metals Ltd (LSE:EEE) announced on Tuesday that a maiden mineral resource estimate at its Pitfield project in Australia revealed “one of the largest and highest-grade titanium resources reported globally”.
The company said the Thomas and Cosgrove deposits at Pitfield contain an estimated 2.2 billion tonnes at 5.1% titanium dioxide, amounting to 113 million tonnes of contained titanium dioxide.
Empire noted that drilling at the Thomas deposit is expected to yield enough feedstock to sustain more than 30 years of initial mine life. The project also benefits from existing rail connections to deep-water ports, offering direct access to key global markets including Asia, the United States, Europe and Saudi Arabia.
The firm added that further resource development drilling is planned and is “fully anticipated” to expand the maiden resource estimate.
Managing Director Shaun Bunn commented: “Pitfield is truly one of the natural geological wonders of the world: a district scale, giant titanium rich ore deposit which has remained hidden in plain sight until recently discovered by Empire.”
He continued: “We have already commenced engineering, environmental and marketing studies which combined, will help confirm the commercial viability of Pitfield and form the basis for a final investment decision.”
Despite the scale of the discovery, Empire Metals’ shares dropped 14% in London trading on Tuesday, closing at 50.60 pence.
Leave a Reply