The Razorback Iron Ore Project is a very large magnetite deposit located 240km NNE of Adelaide, South Australia. It is owned 100% by Royal. The project has an exploration target size of 4,800 to 8,000 Million tonnes at grades of 18 to 45% Fe [1] occurring in an infrastructure rich area that has access to nearby existing open user rail, port, power, gas, heavy engineering and dormitory towns.

The Razorback Project is divided into two sub-projects: the northern Red Dragon Project that covers the historically known Razorback Ridge magnetite deposit, and the southern Pualco Project that had never been tested for iron mineralisation. Collectively, the two areas cover over 1,450 square kilometres of exploration tenement through either outright ownership (EL4267 and ELA313/10) or an exclusive option over the iron rights (EL3927 and EL3997). This area contains in excess of 110 strike kilometres of the host Braemar Iron Formation.

The project was acquired in November 2009 and by August 2010, a maiden, JORC compliant Inferred Resource of 277Mt at 26% Fe was announced for the Razorback Ridge deposit (24th August 2010). Following additional drilling in early 2011 the Inferred Resource was subsequently increased to 537.2 Million tonnes at 25.5% Fe (11 July 2011). A third phase of drilling is planned to commence shortly targeting an additional 200 to 400 Million tonnes of magnetite mineralisation at grades of 25% to 45% Fe along strike of the existing resource. A Pre-feasibility Study is now underway on an Initial Mining Area centred on Razorback Ridge. 

Exploration drilling on the Ironback Hill prospect in the Pualco area has not only indicated the presence of substantial thicknesses of magnetite at similar grades to those seen at Razorback Ridge, but has also validated the exploration target.

The Razorback mineralisation style is a bedded magnetite. It is significantly softer than banded iron formation ores. As a result, this outcropping resource will be low cost to mine and beneficiate which, together with the available infrastructure, means a low capital cost compared to its peers.

The ore produces a low contaminant, high iron content (>68% Fe) magnetite concentrate at grind sizes of 75µm or less and so will be readily marketable at a premium to the reference hematite fines price.

[1]  The potential quantity and grade of the exploration target is conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource.