Australian listed Northern Iron has commenced loading of the first commercial shipment of iron ore concentrate from its Sydvaranger Iron Project in Norway.
Northern Iron said that the vessel is expected to sail from the port of Kirkenes to a customer in China this week, with the departure a major coup for the company as it represented the conclusion of plant commissioning and the commencement of concentrate production.
Difficulties in optimizing the concentrator performance during plant commissioning resulted in the first cargo being significantly outside the specifications expected during post commissioning production.
Mr John Sanderson CEO of Northern Iron said it is not uncommon for irregularities to occur in the early stage of commissioning and production ramp up.
Mr Sanderson said he is pleased to report that everything except the iron and silica was within the specified ranges.
Mr Sanderson said “The loading of our first commercial shipment is a significant achievement for the company, one of which our employees, business partners and the local community can be justifiably proud. The journey to production has not been without challenges and obstacles, but we now look forward to focusing on building a solid company supplying high grade iron ore concentrate to the world steel industry.”
The company’s concentrate manufacturing facilities are currently operating at up to 60% capacity, with Northern Iron expecting capacity to reach 80% by the end of 2009. 100% of nameplate capacity of 2.8 million tonnes per annum concentrate production is expected to be reached by the end of Quarter 1 of 2010 after longer term solutions are implemented to address production bottlenecks identified during plant commissioning.
Northern Iron is an Australian company headquartered in Perth which was formed to acquire the Sydvaranger Iron Project in northern Norway. Northern Iron intends to redevelop the Sydvaranger Iron Project to commence production of magnetite iron concentrate for supply into the European market. The Sydvaranger Iron Project encompasses three magnetite deposits with JORC compliant resources Bjørnevatn, Fisketind Øst and Kjellmannsåsen.
(Sourced from Proactive Investor)
