Lodestone Namibia says it’s three months away from finding a financing solution for its Dordabis high-grade iron ore project.
The Dordabis project can produce up to 2 million tonnes per year (tpa) of high-grade iron ore concentrates and be ramped up to 4 million tpa for a further 20-30 years.
The company has spent US$20 million on two bankable feasibility studies, one for high-grade 70.5 percent magnetite for industrial use and the second for the export of up to 2 million tonnes of high-grade iron ore, Mosch said.
Lodestone CEO Carsten Mosch told the recently held EU Namibia Business Forum that the company had shelved its initial plan to export the ore in favor of processing it downstream in Namibia.
The CEO explained that the concentrate is of Direct Reduced Iron-quality, which can be used downstream to produce cleaner Hot Briquetted Iron.
“The 99% pure iron can be used in electric arc furnaces as a substitute for scrap metal, which is not suitable for producing flat steels due to the high level of impurities present.”
The executive said the company was considering three options for advancing the project, which includes financing a 750,000-ton facility for which all environmental licenses are in place and a bankable feasibility study has been completed.
“Second, the off-takers, Anglo American, are interested in directly scaling to 2 million tonnes due to economies of scale. This involves a capital expenditure of US$250 million. Third, the financing for completing a bankable feasibility study for a US$1.5-$2 billion Hot Briquetted Iron project, by partnering either with steel companies or with local green steel and hydrogen producers for downstream.”
Mosch added, “We have received the first draft of the rail transport agreement with Transnamib and need to optimize the solution at the harbor with the support of the Namibian government. We need support from the steel industry for the processing and from the Namibian government for land access to bring the resource base from a 17-year mine life of 88 million tonnes to 350 million tonnes… and given the magnetic anomaly, we think we can bring that up to this level.”
Lodestone according to the Chamber of Mines of Namibia, resumed the development of its Dordabis high grade iron ore project late in 2018.
