JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Iron Road on Thursday announced it would aim to raise at least $9.23-million from an entitlement offer and institutional placements to advance the Central Eyre iron project, in South Australia, to a final investment decision.
Iron Road announced a one for nine renounceable entitlement offer of new shares at $0.10 a share, and said it would conduct a A$1.05-million institutional placement to certain institutional shareholders, as well as, subject to shareholder approval, a $3.75-million institutional placement to Sentient Executive GP IV.
Iron Road MD Andrew Stocks said that the company was committed to maintaining development momentum through the iron-ore price cycle.
“With the 12-month project commercialisation programme now under way with our partner China Railway Group, we continue to move the Central Eyre project closer to a final investment decision, financial close and ultimately construction and production,” Stocks said.
He added that Iron Road believed there was scope for further reducing costs, both at capital expenditure and operational expenditure level.
“The project commercialisation programme, conducted together with one of the world’s premier engineering and infrastructure construction firms China Railway Group, will aim to repeat this past success of substantial cost reductions.”
In April, Iron Road lowered the project’s capital expenditure by $600-million to $3.4-billion.
The Central Eyre project is expected to produce 24-million tonnes a year over a mine life of 25 years.