African Minerals Signs $244m Deal
With China
Iron
ore explorer, African Minerals, has signed a deal with China's
Railway Materials Commercial Corporation, CRM to buy a 12.5
per cent stake in the firm for 152.6 million Pounds.
This will enable the firm to develop its flagship project in
Sierra Leone.
The London-listed firm said the funding from China Railway
Materials Commercial Corporation would fund the first stage of
its Tonkolili project.
Chief Executive of African Minerals, Alan Watling said
’’African Minerals welcomes the signing of this conditional
agreement with CRM, one of China's large-scale state-owned
enterprises. It is also one of China's largest steel trading
companies.’’
Provisions
The deal includes a 20-year take-off deal under which CRM will
buy between five and eight million tonnes of iron ore a year
from the first stage of the mine.
Tapping its full potentials
The company's flagship project is Tonkolili in Sierra Leone,
which contains 5.1 billion tonnes of iron ore.
It has said that the northern section of the licence area
indicates the potential to increase the resource to about 10
billion tonnes.
The company expects Tonkolili, which needs a long railway line
to ship the ore, to become the largest iron ore producer in
Africa and one of the lowest-cost producers.
Dundee Capital Markets said in November the group was poised to
become the world's fifth-largest iron ore producer.
NAN/Yinka
