London-listed Bellzone Mining has announced that it has gained approval from the government of Guinea to commence commercial production at the Forécariah iron ore project in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa.
Bellzone started wet commissioning at the mine on March 23, and is now moving to commercial production. The company aims to mine and export the initial 2 million mt of high grade iron ore during the first year. The production capacity will be ramped up to 4 million mt per year over a six-month period, with the first shipment scheduled for early June this year. The annual capacity is expected to reach 10 million mt by 2014.
As the approval of the government requires, the construction of the public road will be completed within three months and a study for rail transport of production is to be completed by June 2013, with the construction of the rail system to commence by the end of 2013.