London Mining is in a good place right now, with production at its flagship Marampa iron ore mine in Sierra Leone ramping up smoothly and steadily and talks ongoing with strategic partners for Marampa as well as its next massive iron ore project, Isua in Greenland.

The company gave an operations update and short review of its interim results this morning, followed by a conference call, during which chief executive Mr Graeme Hossie said Marampa is on track to produce 1.5 million tonnes of ore in the current year and is set to reach a capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum in the third quarter of 2013.

He said that “The expansion plans at Marampa are moving well, it’s a simple ramp up with incremented steps, and the operation is in track to reach a production capacity of 5 million tonnes per year for most of the second half of 2013.”

He is also happy with the financial situation of the group, which is showing a robust balance sheet: As at the end of the first half, London Mining had USD 91 million in the bank, and this sum alone leaves the Marampa ramp up to 5 million tonnes per year fully funded.

Add to that the USD 110 million it received last month from a royalty agreement with BlackRock's World Mining Trust for iron ore sales from Marampa, and London Mining’s cash goes a long way towards funding the second phase of the Marampa expansion to 9 million tonnes per year at the appropriate time.

Work on the bankable feasibility study for a 9 million tonnes per year operation is going according to plan, and London Mining expects the study to be completed by the end of the third quarter this year.

Source - Proactive Investors

(www.steelguru.com)