Granting of Mining Right

RNS Number : 1576G

Ironveld PLC

02 March 2015

 

02 March 2015

Ironveld plc ("Ironveld" or the "Company")

Granting of Mining Right

Ironveld plc, the High Purity Iron ("HPI"), Vanadium and Titanium project located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in Limpopo Province, South Africa is pleased to announce the granting of a mining right for the mining of iron ore, vanadium and heavy minerals over the farms Cracouw 391 LR, Aurora 397 and Harriets Wish 393 LR, to Hacra Mining and Exploration Company (Pty) Ltd ("HACRA"), a 71% subsidiary of Sylvania Platinum Limited ("Sylvania") by the Department of Mineral Resources ("DMR") .

In accordance with the terms of the agreement dated 14 March 2012 for the acquisition by Mercury Recycling Group plc (now Ironveld plc) of the Ironveld Group from Sylvania, HACRA will transfer the mining right, via the Section 11 process, to HW Iron (Proprietary) Limited, a subsidiary of Ironveld plc.  It is expected that application will be made in terms of Section 11 of the MPRDA for consent to transfer the right to HW Iron immediately after execution of the right.

The DMR has notified HACRA in writing that the mining right for the farms Cracouw 391 LR, Aurora 397 and Harriets Wish 393 LR located in the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex, for the mining of iron ore, vanadium and heavy minerals has been granted for a period of 30 years.  Upon execution of the right, which is planned for the 19^th March 2015 and includes the approval of the mining Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA"), the Company is required to commence mining within 120 days.

The ore will be used to feed the 15MW smelter which is on track to commence construction in mid-2015 with commissioning to begin in H1 2016 and full production in H2 2016.  The 15MW smelter has projected annual production of 42 000 tons of HPI, 415 tons of Vanadium and 8269 tons of Titanium per annum.

Peter Cox, CEO of Ironveld commented:

"The award of the HACRA mining right is an important step for the project as once it is executed, we will have the approval to mine the ore to feed the 15MW smelter which will produce highly specialized iron products including HPI, Vanadium and Titanium.

"In addition, the final EIA documents for the smelter have been submitted to the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, by the Company's Environmental Consultants Prescali Environmental Consultants (Pty) Ltd. Approval is expected within 90 days. 

"As we move towards concluding the offtake and financing arrangements these two significant milestones are major developments in the delivery of the Ironveld project."

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Ironveld plc Peter Cox, Chief Executive	c/o Camarco 020 3757 4980
Shore Capital Stephane Auton / Toby Gibbs (corporate finance) Jerry Keen (corporate broking)	020 7408 4090
Camarco Billy Clegg/ Georgia Mann	020 3757 4980

Notes to Editors:

Ironveld (IRON.LN) is a High Purity Iron, Vanadium and Titanium project located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in Limpopo Province South Africa.  Ironveld expects to mine its own VTM ore as feedstock for a 15MW smelter which will produce speciality iron products including high purity iron powder as well as Vanadium and titanium products.

The Definitive Feasibility Study published in April 2014 confirms the project's viability to deliver an exceptionally high grade iron product (99.5% Fe) called High Purity Iron which commands a premium in the market place. Vanadium and Titanium slag containing commercial grades of vanadium and titanium will also be produced and sold.

Ironveld's Board includes; Giles Clarke as Chairman, Peter Cox, CEO and Nick Harrison as a Non-Executive Director.

Ironveld is an AIM traded company. For further information on Ironveld please refer to www.ironveld.com.

 

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