London Mining, which began producing iron ore in Sierra Leone in December, said on Wednesday it had made its first shipment of ore from Marampa to a destination in Europe.
The miner which produces high-quality ore suitable for Europe, unlike many other juniors operating in the region said a shipment of 49,656 wet metric tonnes (wmt) had departed Freetown heading for a destination in Europe.
London Mining also said it had commenced production of coke from its operation in Colombia. It said it expected to reach its targeted production rate from Colombia of 200 kilo tonnes per annum (KTPA) by the third quarter of the current year.
“January 2012 has been a landmark month for London Mining. We have commenced exports from our operation at Sierra Leone and production from our operation in Colombia,” Chief Executive Graeme Hossie said in a statement.
The company said it planned two further shipments from Marampa in February.
London Mining said last month it had trimmed its output target for 2012 to 1.5 million tonnes due to the ore mix.
“We are focused on producing 1.5 Mt at Marampa in 2012 and are encouraged by the Marampa product specification which allows us to capture a significant grade related pricing premium,” Hossie said.
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