Irvine island

The Irvine Island magnetite project, which is wholly owned by Pluton Resources Limited, is located 140 kilometres north of Derby, in Yampi Sound, off the Western Australian, northern Kimberley coast. Irvine Island is situated adjacent to Cockatoo Island where Pluton Resources have been operating a hematite mine. Pluton Resources Limited have suffered financially with the ongoing fall in iron ore prices over recent years, an event which forced the company to mothball the Irvine Island Project in 2012.

Irvine Island Project Could Have a Life of 21 Years

Before the Irvine Island project was mothballed a Pre-Feasibility Study on the mine had been completed that resulted in a report which indicated the project could support a magnetite mine on Irvine Island which would have a life of mine of around 21 years. The mining operation was planned to use dry magnetic separation methods to produce a three millimetre sized pre-concentrate product of an average grade of 40 percent iron. The pre-concentrate ore was to be exported to Asia where it will receive beneficiation into a high quality iron product of 67.5 percent. The mine would be capable of producing 141 million tonnes of pre-concentrate ore which would be able to produce a final concentrate of 71 million tonnes.

Irvine Island Project Development has Many Advantages

The Irvine Island magnetite project has significant development advantages over similar mines for the following reasons:

• The company has developed excellent relations with the traditional owners
• The mine is in close proximity to Asian markets
• The ore has low level impurities
• Development and operating costs are quite moderate
• Very low mine to port cost

The existence of a deep water shipping channel able to take Cape Class ships from 160,000 to 180,000 DWT as well as Panamax ships of DWT 65,000 to 80,000. This deep water channel is close to the mine site which removes the need to construct a costly seawall.

Pluton Resources Limited Established in 2006

Pluton Resources Limited is an Australian listed mining company that was established in 2006. It holds a wide range of exploration tenements in both Tasmania and Western Australia. The company was suspended from trading on the Australian Securities Exchange when it incurred financial problems funding its Cockatoo Island project which resulted in receivers being appointed in November, 2014. However, relief was obtained in March, 2015, when the company's major shareholder and major creditor retired the receivers. This allowed the company to launch a bond offering in Great Britain of more than 49 million dollars. The company had been banned by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission in January, 2015, from raising equity on the local market for 12 months. The bond offering is to raise money for the Irvine Island magnetite project. Much of the bond money will be spent on updating engineering and feasibility studies on Irvine Island. The bonds are secured against the value of the project.

Pluton Resources Limited have signed exploration and mining agreements with the traditional owners of the island, the Malaya people. The traditional owners have also been granted an equity stake in the operation. This allows all parties to participate in the project's future success.