Strike ships maiden Apurimac iron ore cargo from Peru

Strike joined iron ore producers’ club today, with the maiden shipment of premium lump iron ore sourced from its Apurimac direct shipping ore project departing Peru.

The bulk vessel MV Federal Nakagawa is now heading for China with 35,000 tonnes of ore where it will deliver its cargo under the company’s offtake agreement with Good Importing International. Voyage time is estimated at about 32 days.

Strike Resources (ASX:SRK) has already received US$4.5m in prepayments for the first shipment and will receive the balance of the sales proceeds prior to the ship’s arrival in China.

“The first shipment of iron ore from Peru is a major milestone for the company,” managing director William Johnson said.

“Strike’s 100% owned high grade Apurimac iron ore project in Peru is recognised as one of the highest grade, large scale magnetite projects in the world with the potential to support the establishment of a significant iron ore operation.

“This first shipment of this high-grade Apurimac premium lump DSO is expected to generate considerable market interest, including from potential customers in the region as well as in China.

“I would like to thank all of Strike’s personnel, contractors and partners, who have all contributed to make this first shipment a reality. In particular, our local team members in Peru, who have worked tirelessly over the last few months to get ‘first ore on ship’.”

Apurimac iron ore project

Apurimac is located in Peru’s Southern Highlands and hosts a JORC (2012) Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 269Mt of iron ore at 57.3% Fe, with potential for further growth.

Strike has been mining high-grade surface deposits of direct shipping ore (DSO) material from Apurimac via the process of engagement of local miners who are permitted, under Peruvian mining legislation, to mine up to 350 tonnes per day (or ~125,000 tonnes per annum) of iron ore from specific portions of a mining concession.

Strike is looking to double this in the near term to 250,000tpa.

A review of earlier pre-feasibility studies is also being finalised.

This includes gap and trade-off analyses and an identification of opportunities to reduce project capex and increase project execution security associated with a 15 million tonne per annum to 20Mtpa production profile of a 68% iron concentrate using a slurry pipeline from mine to port.

This article was developed in collaboration with Strike Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.