LONDON MINING - OPERATIONAL UPDATE FOR THE PERIOD POST 31 DECEMBER 2009
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
London Mining ("The Company") today provides an update on operations at its four
key iron ore projects and an update on its coal investments in DMC and ICC for
the period post 31 December 2009.
Highlights
* Commenced construction of 1.5Mtpa Marampa tailings operation and project
infrastructure
* Bankable feasibility study optimisation and JORC upgrade for Wadi Sawawin on
schedule and financing discussions progressing
* Completed Isua pre-feasibility study shows potential for 5mtpa, scaleable up
to 10mtpa at significantly lower costs
* Reorganisation of investment gives London Mining 28% interest in DMC
Consolidated SA
London Mining CEO Graeme Hossie said "Today's announcement demonstrates London
Mining's ability to deliver on its stated milestones across all its projects. At
our main project, Marampa in Sierra Leone, development of tailings production is
underway and work continues on the expansion project. We are making progress
with financing for Wadi Sawawin in Saudi Arabia and further drilling could
identify increased resources to extend mine life and production. The
pre-feasibility at Isua in Greenland is completed, and has demonstrated that it
will benefit from consideration as a much larger project. These milestones
demonstrate progress across our projects, which are scaleable, have deliverable
logistics and can be rapidly developed."
Marampa, Sierra Leone (100% owned)
Having secured all the final government approvals and confirmed to JORC standard
sufficient resources to commence development, the construction of the initial
tailings operation at Marampa has begun. The tailings will produce 1.5Mtpa of
iron ore concentrate with a grade of 66% Fe and suitable for use as sinter feed.
Ausenco are working with the London Mining team to secure long lead items and
further refine the critical path to first production. The 18.7km gravel haul
road from mine to the barge loading jetty at Tawfayim is over 50% complete with
all the major structures in place ahead of the wet season, which begins in
April. The major long lead item for the plant, the Wet High Intensity Magnetic
Separation (WHIMS) plant, is expected to be ordered in March 2010. A provider of
barges and floating cranes has been identified and London Mining still expects
start-up in Q1 2011 with first shipment of iron ore concentrate expected in Q2
2011.
The next phase of development at Marampa will be to produce concentrate from the
primary ore body. Ausenco was appointed in January 2010 to complete a technical
study, the results of which will contribute to a prefeasibility study (the
"PFS"). The PFS will look to confirm expansion potential for a 5 to 8Mtpa
operation, and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2010. An extensive
resource definition programme is ongoing and will form the basis of the
expansion plans.
London Mining has now completed all the aircore drilling on the tailings
resource and, as previously announced, plans to report updated tailings and
preliminary primary ore resource estimates at the end of Q1 2010. An updated
resource statement for the primary ore is expected in Q3 2010, with a further
estimate of satellite deposit potential by the end of 2010.
Wadi Sawawin, Saudi Arabia (50% owned)
As announced in December 2009, a bankable feasibility study ("BFS") for the Wadi
Sawawin Project has been completed and submitted to London Mining's local
partners, National Mining Company ("NMC"), and the Saudi government. The BFS was
completed on the basis of a production capacity of 5Mtpa Direct Reduced ("DR")
pellets for a 14 year mine life. The BFS assumes capex of USD1.6 billion and
opex of USD58/t pellets (assuming power and water are provided by a third party)
or capex of USD2.0 billion and operating costs of USD47/t if a power and
desalination plant is included in the project.
During Q1 2010, London Mining is continuing with further drilling and resource
verification with the expectation that the BFS will be revised to a 20 year mine
life at 5Mtpa capacity. 80 holes comprising 8,000m are planned for 2010 of which
3,000m will target areas outside the current exploitation licence. All the
current resources are contained within an exploitation licence of 3.5km2. A
further 211.2km2 are held under exploration licences which will be explored in
the next phase of drilling with the aim of identifying sufficient resources to
increase production to 10Mtpa. The current schedule assumes a final feasibility
study and completion of an updated JORC resource to be in place by the end of Q2
2010 and financing secured by the end of 2010. This would allow for construction
to commence in H1 2011 with an expected start-up in H2 2013.
London Mining and NMC are currently in discussions with Saudi Binladin group
regarding a joint venture to build, fund and operate the project.
Isua, Greenland (100% owned)
A prefeasibility study has now been completed for the Isua Project. This has
determined that the project could be built for an estimated capex of USD1.74
billion (+/- 25%), complete with all the supporting facilities necessary to
produce 5Mtpa of 70.8% DR pellet feed. It was also shown that a 23 year
life-of-mine project can be operated at an average annual cost of USD37/tonne.
A desk top scoping study has also been completed which shows that the economics
of the Isua project are greatly improved if a 10Mtpa operation is considered
producing a high grade, low impurity, blast furnace pellet feed concentrate that
can also feed HYL-type DRI plants. If this alternative configuration is
considered, the operating cost could be reduced to USD27/t with estimated capex
of USD2.4 billion. London Mining plans to undertake a prefeasibility study on an
enlarged operation which it expects to complete during Q2 2010.
China Global Mining Resources JV (CGMR), China (50% owned)
In the year ending 2009, the CGMR JV mined 1,006,151 tonnes of ore grading 28%
Fe with a stripping ratio of 0.97 and produced 273,444 tonnes of magnetite
concentrate at an average grade of 62% Fe. Average cash operating costs for
2009 are expected to be below USD40/t of concentrate excluding management and
operator fees. The average realised iron ore price for the year was USD65/t with
the average price in December USD73/t, signifying an upward pricing momentum for
iron ore.
Activities to optimise the existing pit continue and CGMR is working to
consolidate the other operators on the licence. Since acquiring the Chinese
operations, CGMR has undertaken a programme to define upside to the existing
resource and has also identified opportunities to optimise processing to
increase recoveries and concentrate grade. These works will form the basis of
future expansion plans. CGMR is currently raising external finance to assist in
the process of acquiring the two adjacent pits, SBQ and Guquiao, acquiring
further deep mining rights and providing further payments to the vendor.
SRK were engaged in September 2009 to provide an estimate of the resource
potential of the enlarged XNS licence. Initial calculations were based on
historical work undertaken in the 1970s including 55 vertical diamond drill
holes totalling c.25,000m of drill core. 5,000m of further twin hole drilling
has now been completed and SRK expect an estimate of the resource to be reported
to an international standard by Q3 2010.
International Coal Company (ICC), Colombia (20% owned)
London Mining is currently in detailed discussions with ICC regarding the
funding of the construction of the proposed coke ovens. ICC has also been
undertaking a series of desktop studies on the coking coal concessions that it
currently holds in the Socha region where the coke ovens are located.
DMC Consolidated, South Africa (28% owned)
On 8 August 2008, London Mining through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rannerdale,
announced that it had agreed to take an initial 39.3% interest in DMC Coal, a
company in which parent company DMC Consolidated SA ("DMC") has a 30.35%
interest, for a total consideration of USD16.5m. London Mining also issued a
USD18.5m loan to DMC Energy, a subsidiary of DMC. DMC is the holding company
for all the DMC group's coal and iron ore assets and prospects in Africa, which
include: Rietkuil coal project, Springbok Flats coal project, and Limpopo coal
project, all in South Africa and various coal prospecting and exploration rights
in Botswana and Swaziland.
On 13 January 2010, London Mining converted the USD18.5m loan (including accrued
interest) and its USD16.5m investment in DMC Coal into 28% of the issued share
capital of DMC, on a fully diluted basis.
For more information, please contact:
London Mining Plc
Graeme Hossie, Chief Executive Officer +44 20 7201 5000
Rachel Rhodes, Finance Director
Thomas Credland, Head of Investor Relations
Liberum Capital (Nominated Advisor/Broker)
Clayton Bush/Ellen Francis +44 20 3100 2000
Threadneedle Communication (UK)
Laurence Read/ Graham Herring +44 20 7653 9850
Crux Kommunikasjon AS
Charlotte Knudsen +47 97 56 19 59
The Company's website can be found at www.londonmining.co.uk
About London Mining
London Mining is focused on identifying, developing and operating scaleable
mines to become a mid-tier supplier to the global steel industry. Its four
principal assets in Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia, Greenland and China all have
deliverable production with potential for expansion. The Company listed on the
Oslo Axess on 9 October 2007 and on AIM in London on 6 November 2009. It trades
under the symbols LOND.L and LOND.NO (Reuters) and LOND LN and LOND NO
(Bloomberg).
This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to §5-12 vphl
(Norwegian Securities Trading Act)
[HUG#1388276]
Operational Update: http://hugin.info/137683/R/1388276/346454.pdf
Presentation of Operational Update: http://hugin.info/137683/R/1388276/346515.pdf
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 25.02.2010 - 08:02 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 12907
Anzahl Zeichen: 0
contact information:
Town:
London
Kategorie:
Business News
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 202 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"LONDON MINING - OPERATIONAL UPDATE FOR THE PERIOD POST 31 DECEMBER 2009"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
London Mining Plc (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
