UK-based Sable Mining Africa has acquired an 80 per cent stake in Sierra Leone’s Red Rock Mining, it has been announced.
Red Rock holds a 50-year lease at the Bagla Hills iron ore deposit in the south-east of Sierra Leone. Bagla Hills lies about 52 kilometres from Kenema, and forms a continuation of the Western Cluster iron ore deposits across the border with Liberia.
The lease area covers 206.75 square kilometres in total.
Commenting, Sable Mining’s CEO Andrew Groves said: “The Bagla Hills project has world class potential with existing reports already indicating a resource estimate of 838 mt at 32 per cent Fe. The geology clearly indicates the possibility for a much bigger project with large tonnages of iron ore being present covering the two ridges and at depth along the keel of the fold axis.
“Importantly it appears to be an extension of the Western Cluster just across the border in Liberia, which not only underpins the regional prospectivity but will ensure the relevant infrastructure needed for the development and production stages is in place. Our aim is to initiate a drilling programme to expand the existing historical resource and upgrade it to JORC status.”
Through its investment in the South African coal mining company, Delta Mining Consolidated, Sable also has interests in four major coal projects in South Africa and Botswana that are all under active development.
Sable also controls the Lubu Coal concession in Zimbabwe; holds a 61 per cent interest in the Gulukwane iron ore project in Limpopo province, South Africa; a 100 per cent interest in an iron ore licence covering three permits in the Kissidougou area of south-east Guinea; and a 51 per cent interest in Southern Cross Investments Limited, a company which holds the Bopolu and Timbo iron ore reconnaissance licences in Liberia.
