JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed London Mining expects a decision on the construction of its Marampa project, in Sierra Leone, before the end of the year, following final ratification of fiscal incentives in the Sierra Leone Parliament.

During the quarter ended December, London Mining resolved its dispute with the government of Sierra Leone and was issued with a new 13,82 km mining license.

The company said in a statement that test work conducted on the site has now showed that either sinter feed or blast furnace feed could be produced from the reprocessed tailings at Marampa.

The production of sinter feed would be possible without the installation of a milling circuit.

London Mining expected to have a joint ore reserve committee (Jorc) standard resource statement for the tailings during December, and a statement for the primary ore by June 2010.

The company said on Thursday that during the period under review, it also made ‘significant headway’ on its other principle projects, and has embarked on new initiatives as it moved towards realising its ambition to become a mid-tier developer.

These initiatives included the development of a corporate social responsibility programme and an accelerated Jorc resource campaign.

At the Wadi Sawawin project, in Saudi Arabia, London stated that it remained confident of delivering a bankable feasibility study by the end of 2009.

Currently, a 2 640 m drilling campaign was under way, with the aim of extending the mine life of the project from 14, to 17 years.

The joint venture covering the project, in which London owned a 50% stake, has a total licence area of 211,2 km² with the area currently comprising around 230-million ton resources, lying within an area of 3,5 km².

London Mining stated that initial work has indicated that the project had potential for further exploration, and an 8 000 m drilling programme was planned to increase the regional resource.

At its Isua project, in Greenland, London Mining completed 3 600 m drilling programme, the results of which would contribute towards an updated Jorc resource statement at the end of 2009. A prefeasibility study was expected to be delivered during the first quarter of 2010.

London Mining noted that at its 28%-owned DMC Energy, in South Africa, a definitive feasibility study for the 70% owned Rietkuil project has still yet to be delivered. Early indications showed that Rietkuil could be developed on a wholly open-pit basis.

The feasibility study was expected to be released ahead of DMC's proposed listing on the JSE during the second quarter of 2010.

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