On August 26, African Minerals Limited (African Minerals), a mineral exploration and development company with significant iron ore and base metal interests in Sierra Leone, West Africa, announced that the government of Sierra Leone has approved and the parliament of Sierra Leone has unanimously ratified the mining lease for the Tonkolili iron ore project and related infrastructure projects.
The parliament of Sierra Leone has also approved the fiscal regime and the company's proposed mine and logistics plans for the projects.
Under the mining lease, the government has granted the company two large scale mining licenses which are valid for a period of 25 years, following which they will be renewable for further 15-year periods.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, African Minerals announced on June 9 that an aggressive exploration program is underway to define additional hematite mineralization to underpin the expansion of the Tonkolili project from 8 million mt per year of direct shipping ore (DSO) product to 25 million mt per year. The company said that it is currently on schedule to commence production and shipping of 8 million mt of DSO hematite product in Q1 2011.
China Railway Materials Commercial Corporation has a 12.5 percent stake in African Minerals.