RE: Aussie Practice From the Peenut Gallery Iron ore is around 4 tons per cubic yard. If indeed the strike is 250 meters by 300 meters by 2 killometres and consistent throughout, there coud be 600 hundred million tons of iron ore before the detritus is removed. That sounds a little too good to be true. If the assay says the ore is free from bad substances, this could one significant deposit.
The questions that will arise will be how much capex and how much time is required to produce this DSO and if there is rail capacity. The government of Labrador must be following events carefully as they make their plans for finding a way to see Julienne Lake developed expeditously. Given enough new tonnage is sure to be brought in production, there will need to be more rail capacity. It would seem fortuitous if all the new tonnage is near the existing railroad because it would seem to be a lot cheaper and faster and environmentally acceptable to run more rail alongside the existing rail if at all possible. Julienne Lake and Snelgrove lake are both quite near the existing railroad as is Alderon. Alderon is counting on going into production I believe before the current railroad capacity is maxed out by other iron ore developments coming on line.
This may be off the wall, but it is not entirely inconceivable that at some point in time, technology will develop to the point where iron ore can be made into iron on a large scale, using cheap electricity. That would mean the freight charge to china, the port charge and the rail charge to port could all be eliminated. High grade DSO might be one element in whether refining iron ore will ever become feasible in Labrador using cheap hydropower.
Canada Moose