On April 10, UK-based London Mining, a global diversified miner targeting the steel sector, announced that it has completed the prefeasibility study for the staged expansion of its Marampa iron ore project in Sierra Leone.
Currently, London Mining is developing Phase 1a and Phase 1b of the Marampa iron ore project, involving the reprocessing of tailings from the previous operation to produce 3.6 million mt per year of iron ore. The Marampa mine's phase-two expansion would consist of a three-stage expansion plan to mine 16 million mt a year with average capital intensity of $148/mt.
Construction is anticipated to commence in H1 2012, with first production from the expanded Marampa mine planned for Q3 2014.
"The incremental nature of the expansion plans which are scheduled to begin once we are generating substantial cash flow, provide London Mining with a route to grow production from the 1 billion mt resource at Marampa and capitalizes on the advantages provided by the presence of soft, higher grade weathered material and existing infrastructure," London Mining CEO Graeme Hossie said.
The new production plan extends the life of the Marampa iron ore mine until 2036, and generates a net-present value of $2.2 billion with an internal return rate of 28.8 percent.