Iron ore producer London Mining (LSE:LOND) sends off its’ first ship loaded with 49,656 wet metric tonnes (“wmt”) of iron ore from their Marampa Mine in Sierra Leone, which is bound for Europe.
This is the first of the three shipments scheduled to deliver London Mining’s produce, with the second ship bound for China and the third to be provided to Glencore, the Swiss-based commodities supplier. The next two ships are scheduled this February.
London Mining expects premium price in comparison to the 62% CFR China Benchmark listed at the Platts Iron Ore Price Assessment.
Marampa Mine
London Mining has complete control in the Marampa Mine, which is a 13.82 km2 brownfield site used to produce 2.5 Mtpa in the 1960s when it was operated by William Baird. Internal strife and economic conditions haulted operations until London Mining secured a licence in 2006 and resumed operation in 2011.
Since December 2011, Marampa mine has produced 93,000 dmt of concentrate, 75,000 dmt of which was achieved in January, producing at an average daily run rate of 2,500 dmt/d and a maximum rate of 3,800 dmt/d.
The company targets to produce 4Mtpa of sinter concentrate for the first phase and increased to 16Mtpa on the second phase. The mine has a 25-year mine life.
CEO Comments
Graeme Hossie, Chief Executive of London Mining expressed positive vibe for the company, saying,
“January 2012 has been a landmark month for London Mining. We have commenced exports from our operation in Sierra Leone and production from our operation in Colombia. We are focused on producing 1.5Mt at Marampa in 2012 and are encouraged by the Marampa product specification which allows us to capture a significant grade related pricing premium.”
Shares of London Mining are up by 4.5 pence, or 1.7%, to 275 pence as of 8 AM GMT.