• Dannemora Mineral has been granted a new exploration permit for iron ore - Riddarhyttan 3. The new permit and the previously granted permit, Riddarhyttan 1, cover the interesting iron ore reserves in the Riddarhyttan ore field.
• The two exploration permits cover historically proven and probable iron ore reserves of just over 12 million tonnes. Dannemora Mineral believes conditions are in place for increasing the resources considerably by means of exploration in the area.
• In addition to the Riddarhyttan ore field, Dannemora Mineral is planning to explore four other iron ore deposits in Bergslagen.
• Dannemora Mineral has a strategic interest in securing iron ore reserves, which, in the long term, may increase iron ore production over and above what the measured reserves in the Dannemora mine can produce. However, the Company's no. 1 priority is to resume operations in the Dannemora mine and the majority of its resources are allocated for this purpose.

On 13 February 2009, Dannemora Mineral AB was granted a new exploration permit - Riddarhyttan no. 3.  The new permit, together with the permit granted in August 2008, means that the company will now be working in yet another historically important iron ore field in Bergslagen. Together, the two permits cover the part of the Riddarhyttan ore field, which contains interesting iron ore deposits.  The exploration permit is located in Skinnskatteberg municipality in the county of Västmanland.

 

Riddarhyttan is one of the oldest iron ore fields in Bergslagen. It contains a large number of mines. Bäckegruvan in particular and also Källfallsgruvan have had a historically high level of iron ore production. Bäckegruvan, which is mined for skarn magnetite ore, was operated by Fagersta AB until 1978. Historical iron ore production from the entire Riddarhyttan ore field has been estimated at over 20 million tonnes.

 

The "ore reserve calculation" which was conducted when Bäckegruvan closed down in 1978 resulted in just over 12 Mt of historically proven and probable ore (see the table below). The calculation was carried out before SveMin introduced its regulations, which now have to be applied. This means that the reported tonnage and its classification have not been carried out in accordance with the Canadian policy document NI 43-101 or SveMin's recommendations. Operations in the Riddarhyttan ore field are primarily concentrated on updating the tonnage and grade calculation, completing an application for an exploitation concession and increasing the resources by means of exploration.   

 

Historical "ore reserve calculation" carried out on Bäckegruvan's closure.

The calculation, dated 1 Jan. 1978, was conducted by E. Bergquist, J. Thamsten and K-I Grusell.

Deposit	"Proven ore" (kt)	Iron Content (% Fe)	"Probable ore" (kt)	Iron content (% Fe)	"Inferred ore" (kt)	Iron content (% Fe)
Förhoppnings -gruvan	3 678	36.4	272	36.2	664	33.9
Myrbacks- Östergruvan*	528	31.6	132	31.0	0	-
Bäckegruvan areas 6, 7 and 8	3 399	36.9	629	36.8	1 259	36.8
Höjdgruvan	809	39.4	93	41.0	486	37.3
Pellegruvan*	147	40.0	245	40.0	653	40.0
Persgruvan*	2 514	40.9	0	-	0	-
Total	11 075	37.6	1 371	37.0	3 062	36.9

* Deposits stated as containing 0.1 - 0.5% copper.

 

Dannemora Mineral AB believes that many of the known mineralisations in the Riddarhyttan ore field continue towards depth and there is a good opportunity to find new orebodies.

 

The Rudgruvan no. 1 exploration permit is situated in Fagersta municipality in the county of Västmanland. Rudgruvan belongs to the Semla ore field, which has an estimated historical iron ore production of 2.9 million tonnes. Rudgruvan was owned and operated by Fagersta AB until the 1960s. 

 

The Klackberg no. 1 exploration permit is located in Norberg municipality in the county of Västmanland. The permit covers the Klackberg mine, with an estimated historical ore production of 2.8 million tonnes, and the Kolingsberget mine, from which approx. 2.0 million tonnes are produced.

 

The Persberg nos. 1 and 2 exploration permits are located in Filipstad municipality in the county of Värmland. Persberg's Odal field, which produced 7.7 million tonnes of iron ore, was one of the most important iron ore fields in Värmland until production ceased in 1979.

 

The Värmlandsberg no. 1 exploration permit is also situated in Filipstad municipality in the county of Värmland. The Nordmarkberg, Taberg and Värmlandsberg mines are found in the area. The three mines lie within an area of approx. 2 x 2 km and have a combined historical production of approx. 5 million tonnes. The Nordmarksberg and Taberg mines were operational until 1962, while the Värmlandsberg mine carried on until 1980.

 

Dannemora Mineral's focus on further deposits in Bergslagen is concentrated on skarn iron ore with magnetite as the main economic mineral, i.e. the same type of iron ore as the Company intends to start mining in Dannemora during 2010. The involvement in new iron ore projects in Bergslagen is an important step in the Company's strategic development plans for its activities after the Dannemora mine becomes operational.