LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG--(Marketwire - Jan. 30, 2013) -Northland Resources S.A. (TSX:NAU)(OSLO:NAUR)(FRANKFURT:NPK)(OMX:NAURo) ("Northland" or the "Company") announces that the Company will start loading its first vessel on February 9, 2013, for further shipment to end customer and partner Tata Steel UK Limited ("Tata Steel").
Northland's first shipment from the Port of Narvik is now fixed for loading of 40,000 tonnes of high grade iron ore concentrate for a customer in Europe. Loading is expected to commence on the February 9, 2013. The results of analyses to date confirm that the quality produced is meeting the specifications, with Fe-content above the expected 69%. The cargo will be shipped by MV Star Norita to Tata Steel in the Netherlands where the product will be used in their pellet plant.
Tata Steel, established in 1907, is one of the largest global steel companies with a crude steel capacity of over 28 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). It is now one of the world's most geographically diversified steel producers, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries.
The first shipment to Tata will be followed by regular shipments to customers in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. Total shipments in 2013 are expected to amount to 1.5 million tonnes increasing to a rate of about 4 million tonnes per year, or 350,000 tonnes per month, by the third quarter of 2014.
Karl-Axel Waplan, President & CEO, Northland Resources S.A.
Northland is a producer of iron ore concentrate, with a portfolio of production, development and exploration mines and projects in northern Sweden and Finland. The first construction phase of the Kaunisvaara project is complete and production ramp-up started in November 2012. The Company expects to produce high-grade, high-quality magnetite iron concentrate in Kaunisvaara, Sweden, where the Company expects to exploit two magnetite iron ore deposits, Tapuli and Sahavaara. Northland has entered into off-take contracts with three partners for the entire production from the Kaunisvaara project over the next seven to ten years. The Company is also preparing a Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") for its Hannukainen Iron Oxide Copper Gold ("IOCG") project in Kolari, northern Finland and for the Pellivuoma deposit, which is located 15 km from the Kaunisvaara processing plant.