Adriana Resources
Allen J. Palmiere is the president and CEO of Adriana Resources (ADI), a Toronto firm that is focused on the advancement of its iron ore project Lac Otelnuk, in Quebec, and the development of its iron ore port in Brazil.
For Palmiere, ADI not only represents a chance to extend a long career in the mining industry, but also to be involved in one of the largest mining projects in Canadian history. “If you truly have a world-class resource, you’re further ahead than anyone else,” he says. “We have one of those world-class deposits.”
ADI’s principal project is its Lac Otelnuk Iron Project in Quebec is located 170 kilometers north of Schefferville, Quebec, the project spans more than 34,000 hectares and is one of the largest undeveloped iron ore deposits in the world, Palmiere says. “We have drilled approximately 13,258 meters and have an estimated 6.26 billion tonnes and that comprises one-third of the mineralization,” Palmiere says.
In 2009, a National Instrument 43-101-compliant Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate was issued on behalf of the company by Watts, Griffis and McOuat, pursuant to which mineral resource estimates totalling 6.26 billion tonnes were defined only for the South Zone of which 4.97 billion tonnes are indicated resources and 1.97 billion tonnes are inferred resources. In 2007, the company acquired a development site in Brazil to construct an iron ore port facility. Located approximately 70 kilometers west of Rio de Janeiro, in Sepetiba Bay, the site has direct access to a railway and transportation network. The port will provide iron producers access to global steel markets. “Brazil is constrained by the lack of access to deep water ports,” Palmiere says. “Our planned annual capacity of45 million using cape size vessels would enable the development of numerous iron ore projects.”
Great Potential
A veteran of the mining industry with more than 35 years of extensive experience in senior executive and leadership roles, Palmiere joined Adriana Resources in June 2009 as president and CEO and then was appointed as a member of the board of directors of the company in July 2009. He explains he was drawn to Adriana Resources because of the strong opportunities in its properties. For instance, the Lac Otelnuk property will require Adriana Resources to form strategic partnerships with other organizations. “That was part of the exercise that really appealed to me,” Palmiere recalls.
“This project is realistically going to cost something in the range of $7 billion to $8 billion to develop,” he says, adding that it can be difficult to raise funding through capital markets. Drilling is completed on the project, and Adriana is now in the process of performing further engineering studies. “We hope to be issuing a new, preliminary economic analysis in the next few months,” he says.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, ADI received its IT (technical instruction) for an environmental permit on Sept. 15, 2009. The company continues to advance permitting and detailed engineering/design of the 45 Mtpa port facility. “We’ll be spending the next year doing environmental impact studies that address the instructions [for earning the permit] in the IT, [which] is a road map in obtaining your environmental permit.”
Key Partners
Palmiere says there are only a few companies that will be able to partner with it on a project the size of Lac Otelnuk. “[The ideal partner] is someone who will provide project financing and the completion guarantee associated with the project financing,” he says. The company has been in discussions with potential joint venture partners, and will continue to pursue a joint venture partner to move the project forward. EMI