Oceanic Iron Ore Details Hopes Advance PEA Learnings
Vancouver, BC – October 16, 2026 – Leads & Copy – Oceanic Iron Ore (TSXV: FEO) informed shareholders on October 14, 2026, about key takeaways from its Hopes Advance Re-Scoped Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). The company is focused on developing its Hopes Advance, Morgan Lake, and Roberts Lake iron ore projects in Quebec, Canada.
The Hopes Advance Project, situated at tidewater, hosts a NI 43-101 measured and indicated resource of approximately 1.36 billion tonnes with a head grade of 32.1% Fe. A significant finding from the PEA is that Oceanic Iron Ore will not need a railroad to transport its iron ore to market, a factor that is expected to substantially lower both capital expenditures and operating costs.
Chris Batalha, CEO of Oceanic Iron Ore, stated that the company has been in a period of strategic hibernation for over a decade and is now focused on updating its technical studies and engineering reports to reflect current input costs and commodity prices.
Oceanic Iron Ore completed a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the Hopes Advance asset in November 2012, with the results summarized in a NI 43-101 report. Over the subsequent two years, the company worked on permitting, process flow sheets, product marketability, and shipping optimization. However, as iron ore prices declined by 2014, Oceanic entered a cash preservation phase.
By 2019, Oceanic determined that the cost estimates and economic analysis from the 2012 PFS were no longer relevant to the current market. Consequently, the company commissioned a Hopes Advance Re-Scoped PEA to assess the feasibility of achieving an acceptable return on investment by reducing the production profile and upfront capital required to bring Hopes Advance into commercial production.
The re-scoped PEA is based on an initial production target of 5 million tonnes per year (Mtpa) of dry concentrate, with a planned expansion to 10 Mtpa in Year 5. The financial projections span a 28-year mine life, focusing on the three primary deposits at Hopes Advance: Castle Mountain, Iron Valley, and Bay Zone F. The technical report suggests that operations could potentially extend beyond 28 years.
For both the initial and expansion phases, power generation is planned to be self-sufficient, utilizing diesel fuel from a barge-mounted power plant. The concentrate will be filtered at the concentrator site and transported year-round by truck to a port stockpile. Shipments are planned for the summer months, with concentrate stockpiled during winter, a strategy expected to reduce port infrastructure costs and eliminate the need for transshipment during colder months.
The re-scoped PEA also proposed a modified, more energy-efficient process flowsheet to reduce power requirements and fuel storage, thereby improving the project’s carbon footprint. The report noted an improvement in market conditions, partly driven by government initiatives in China encouraging steel mills to reduce air emissions. This has led to increased demand for higher-grade iron ore feedstocks with lower levels of deleterious elements, resulting in a significant rise in ‘quality premiums’ for purer iron ore products.
The report highlighted that previously curtailed operations in the Labrador Trough, such as Champion Iron’s Bloom Lake Mine, have restarted successfully. The 2019 re-scope achieved three main objectives: a reduction in initial mine capital expenditure without increasing operating expenses, lower port capital costs through seasonal shipping, and the elimination of reliance on third-party infrastructure by employing a barge-mounted diesel power plant.
The proposed mining method involves a conventional open-pit, truck-and-shovel, drill-and-blast operation, connected to the port by a 26-kilometre access road. At the port, a conveyor belt system will transfer concentrate to a ship-loading conveyor.
Oceanic Iron Ore views the 2019 re-scope not as a setback, but as a strategic maneuver that has made the project more financeable. Batalha indicated that further details on the company’s capital expenditure advantages will be provided in a subsequent message.
Source: Oceanic Iron Ore
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