London-listed Africa-focused mining giant African Minerals Ltd has announced that the operating capacity of Tonkolili iron ore mine in Sierra Leone has increased from 12 million mt per year to 15 million mt per year. As a result, African Minerals has also revised its sales outlook; it now expects to sell 1.2 million mt of direct shipping ore this year, while next year it expects to sell 12 million mt.
The costs of phase one of the Tonkolili project have also increased by $284 million from the originally announced $1.1 billion, $132 million of which will be used for capacity expansion.
Additionally, African Minerals has announced that it has received credit committee approval for an approximate $90 million credit facility for equipment financing.
The first iron ore shipment from the mine is scheduled in the fourth quarter of the current year. To this end, Africa Minerals expects to launch its railway connection from the mine by the end of September.