Aquila Resources Limited commenced exploring for iron ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in January 2004. It was recognised early on that there are two main types of iron ore deposits mined in the Pilbara that should form the priority targets for exploration:
Banded iron formation (BIF) hosted hematite and hematite-goethite deposits, enriched to form bedded iron deposits (BIDs); and
Goethite-hematite channel iron deposits (CIDs) comprising detrital iron-rich material transported into Tertiary river systems and preserved in paleodrainage channels.
Target settings were generated from remote sensing studies using satellite technology to identify areas with similar spectral signatures to the known Pilbara iron ore occurrences. Applications were lodged for new tenements where the identified prospective ground was untenanted. Where targets fell on granted tenements held by parties whose commodity focus was not on iron ore, approaches were made to secure the iron ore rights through a series of farm-in and acquisition agreements.