Exploration and development company High Power Exploration (HPX), led by mining billionaire Robert Friedland, has raised $200-milllion to fast-track the development of its iron-ore project in Guinea.
Subscribers to the equity financing included several new institutional investors from the US and Canada, the US domiciled-company said on Monday.
The Nimba project will initially produce 15-million tonnes a year, increasing to 30-million tonnes a year, of high-grade direct shipping iron-ore.
The explorer also announced that it had secured political risk insurance for the development phase of the project through Washington-based Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (Miga).
Miga is a World Bank Group member.
The policies will cover political risks which arise in either Guinea or Liberia in relation to 90% of the equity and principal on the shareholder loans HPX has already invested, and will continue to invest over the development phase, into the Guinean and Liberian subsidiaries involved in the development of the Nimba project, HPX said.