HPX completes technical due diligence

In early February this year, the technical team of the US company HPX completed extensive review work and a site visit to review the assets.

Monrovia, April 18, 2024: US Company High Power Exploration Inc. (“HPX”) announced today that it has completed technical due diligence on Liberia’s St. John River iron ore licenses. These licenses are the subject of an acquisition agreement with Intra Ferrous Pte. Ltd., signed in December 2023.

HPX’s technical team completed extensive review work and a site visit in early February this year to review the assets.

A press release dated 17 April 2024 explains that during the site visit, the HPX geological team identified significant showings of Banded Iron Formations (BIF), which supports the company’s view of the licenses’ productivity.

The St. John River licenses are strategically located within the proposed Liberty Corridor, and previous work completed by the United States Geological Survey (“USGS”) identified a potential exploration target of 650 million tonnes of up to 58% Fe.

The St. John River iron ore licenses are highly prospective, and with the extensive exploration experience and success within the HPX group, the release said.

The company looks forward to implementing an active exploration program to advance the St. John River projects.

The release detailed that HPX will now move to complete financial close of the acquisition during this quarter.

In addition to completing technical due diligence on the St. John River assets, HPX has significantly advanced the Liberty Corridor Development Agreement with the Liberty Corridor Steering Committee.

With the first meeting of the Steering Committee held on 28 February 2024, members of the Steering Committee have been working to finalize a Development Agreement between the parties that can be presented to the Liberian Government’s Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee for finalization, approval by the President of Liberia and ratification by the Liberian Legislature.

The release said significant work has also been completed by the Nimba Project Technical Team over the last six months, which has focused on streamlining the project, reducing the proposed capital required for Phase 1 development, and increasing available resources.

These significant project advances include commencement of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for Phase 1 mine development.

They include completing a contract tender process for mining, processing, and hauling for Phase 1 and updating the 2021 feasibility study to generate a JORC-compliant reserve, including technical updates to geology, geotechnical, and metallurgical data.

They also include the identification of a super high-grade zone in Phase 1 comprising 20 million tonnes at 68% Fe—a high-quality product that will attract a significant pricing premium—and the simplification of the Phase 1 Mining Flowsheet to remove complexity and reduce CapEx.

It also named anticipated capex to bring Phase 1 into full production, circa US$100 million; the potential to increase the project resources by 300 Mt. across Phase 1 and 2 with mine plan and scheduling improvements, taking the mine life past 25 years at 30Mtpa rate.

The project advances further include reduction of overall capex required for Phase 2, 30 Mtpa, to US$1.9 billion – a reduction of US$375 million

The President and CEO of HPX, Bronwyn Barnes, commented: “HPX is pleased to have completed technical due diligence on the St John River licenses in Liberia and will now move to financial close of the proposed acquisition.”

“As we continue to grow the Company’s asset base in West Africa, we look forward to expanding our presence in Liberia with the completion of this acquisition,” Barnes continued.

HXP CEO indicated that the company has continued to advance the development of the Nimba Iron Ore Project in Guinea and plans to export ore through Liberia.

For the past six months, the HPX CEO has stated that the company’s project team has been focused on ensuring that Nimba Phase 1 will be a low-capital-intensive start-up phase that can ramp up to full production of 30 million tonnes per annum over a five-year period.

“With the tender process for construction of Phase 1 finalized in late 2023, we will shortly announce the successful contractor,” said Barnes.

“Guinean-based environmental consultancy, Insuco, was retained last year to support HPX with our Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (“ESIA”).”

The St. John River iron ore licenses in central Liberia, previously held by BHP, encompass a combined total area of almost 250 km2, giving HPX a significant presence in Liberia, complementing its Nimba Lola iron ore project in Guinea.

The St. John River North and South tenements have had limited exploration activity; however, historical mapping work completed by the United States Geological Survey (“USGS”) at the properties demonstrated significant showings of Banded Iron Formations (“BIF”), supporting an iron ore resource exploration target of approximately 650 million tonnes.

No material exploration has been conducted on these properties since the original mapping work in the 1960s.

HPX has a well-credentialed and experienced exploration and development team in place and is now considering an exploration strategy for the licenses that will seek to fast-track resource identification.