The iron formation on the Property is of the Lake Superior-type. This type of iron formation consists of banded sedimentary rocks composed principally of bands of iron oxides, magnetite and hematite within quartz or chert-rich rock with variable amounts of silicate, carbonate and sulphide lithofacies. Such iron formations have been the principal sources of iron throughout the world (Gross, 1996).
Mineralization of economic interest on the Property is the oxide facies iron formation (OIF) or oxide facies banded iron formation and it is magnetite-rich taconite that contains minor hematite throughout. The Soviet literature commonly refers to this mineralization as “un-oxidized ferriferous quartzite”.
Concentrations of martite and goethite/limonite mineralization also occur on the Property. This latter type of mineralization is an alteration product derived from the taconite. In the Soviet literature, this type of mineralization is called “rich iron ore” or “oxidized quartzite mineralization.” This supergene enriched iron mineralization is commonly associated with the faults and fault zones, perhaps coincident with an unconformity that occurs along the western margin of the Shymanivske deposit adjacent to the Archean basement.
On the Shtmanivske property, only the magnetite-rich taconite is considered of immediate economic interest. WGM understands that under Ukrainian law martite mineralization, if not exploited, must be stockpiled for possible later use.
The iron formation on the Property is mainly confined to the Saksagan sequence and is folded into a NE gently plunging anticline (west part of the deposit) and an adjacent open syncline (central and east parts of the deposit). The taconite extends the entire NE-SW extent of the Property, 2.2 km and beyond, and occurs over a width of 800 m to 1 km in a NW-SE direction. The taconite is folded and its true thickness varies throughout because of tectonic thickening, erosion and possibly the original basin topology. The true thickness of the iron formation package, including the intervening inter-oxide iron formation “slate” members, is in the order of 200 m to 250 m. Because of the folding, there is no consistent relationship between drill hole orientation and the true width of mineralization. Drill testing has been completed, generally to a vertical depth of 300 m to 500 m. Mineralization along the western margin of the deposit, particularly the steeply dipping NW limb of the main anticline, extends to an unknown depth and has been tested by drilling to a maximum vertical depth of 500 m.
The mining method selected for the Project, consisting of a conventional open pit, truck and shovel, drill and blast operation, has not changed from previous studies on the Property. Vegetation and topsoil will be stripped and stockpiled for future reclamation use. Overburden, as well as parts of the historic waste dumps that will be mined, will be sent to either waste dumps or to the tailings facility to be used as construction material. The mineralized material and waste rock will be mined with 15 m high benches, drilled, blasted and loaded into a fleet of haul trucks using electric cable shovels.
The overall pit slope through the iron formation is 47 degrees. This overall slope is achieved with 15 m high benches, a bench face angle of 60 degrees and a berm width of 10.6 m, which is placed every two benches. The overall pit slope through the overburden formation is 37.5 degrees which is achieved with 15 m high benches, a bench face angle of 60 degrees and a berm width of 10.9 m. Where mining will occur into the historic waste dumps, an offset of 20 m is required from the pit crest, and the dump will be mined in 5 m benches at a bench face angle of 50 degree. A catch bench of 4.2 m will be placed on every bench, resulting in an overall slope of 30 degrees.
The ramps and haul roads were designed for haulage with 228 t rigid frame mining trucks, with an overall width of 31 m. For double lane traffic, industry practice indicates the minimum running surface width to be a minimum of three times the width of the largest truck. The overall width of a 228 t haul truck is 8.3 m which results in a running surface of 24.9 m. The allowance for berms and ditches increases the overall haul road width to 31 m. A maximum ramp grade of 10% was used. Figure 16-5 presents a typical section of the in- pit ramp design. Based on Ukraine mining regulations 50 m flat segments were considered for every 60 m vertical separation.
The pit that has been designed for the Shymanivske Project is approximately 1,200 m long and 750 m wide at surface with a maximum pit depth from surface of 300 m. The total surface area of the pit is roughly 2,000,000 m2 . The pit is completely contained within the mining allotment.
For PEA Study the process flowsheet has been adapted for the new scale of Project which has a nominal annual capacity of 4.0 Mtpa of dry concentrate production. For the expansion to 8.0 Mtpa, this circuit is replicated.
General process and plant design criteria for the Shymanivske processing plant outlined in PEA are based on the criteria, design, general arrangements and equipment sizing developed during the 2014 FS but have been adjusted to the re-scaled Project.