GREY:MAAFF - Post by User
Post by
Brainwave1on Nov 13, 2010 9:24am
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Post# 17701874
Xstrata in Congo
Xstrata in CongoSome recent news on mining investment in Congo. It doesn't impact on MAG directly, except that it indicates the country--which presently has no producing commercial mines--is becoming more attractive/prospective to listed miners. Interest from the likes of Xstrata also vaults the country out of what has been strictly junior territory.
Xstrata to fund iron ore feasibility study
Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Xstrata Plc, the world’s largest exporter of thermalcoal, agreed to pay as much as $106 million to fund a pre-feasibility study ofthe Zanaga iron ore project in the Republic of Congo.
Once the study is finished in the firstquarter of 2011, Xstrata will have 45 days to decide whether toexercise an option to buy 50 percent plus one share in the project, operatorZanaga Iron Ore Co. said in a statement today. Xstrata confirmed the contentsof the release and declined to comment further.
To exercise the option, Xstrata must fund a bankable feasibility study at acost of at least $100 million, Zanaga said. Xstrata can then opt to buy therest of the project once the study is complete, it said, without giving furtherdetails.
Xstrata, which today raised its cash offer for iron ore developer SphereMinerals Ltd. by 20 percent to A$514 million ($513 million), is seeking toimprove its access to supplies of the raw material as prices climb.
The average spot price for ore delivered to China, the world’s biggest buyer,was $145 a metric ton in the first half, according to The Steel Index. That’smore than double the average $69 a ton for the same period last year.