Name of the Project
Zanaga iron-ore project.

Location
The project is located about 30 km west of Zanaga, a regional centre of the Lekoumou department of Congo-Brazzaville.

Project Owner/s
Iron-ore exploration and development company Zanaga Iron Ore Company (ZIOC), through its wholly owned subsidiary Jumelles BVI Limited.

Jumelles continues to hold a 100% interest. The proposed Red Arc Minerals transaction remains under discussion.

Project Description
The Zanaga project is a large-scale openpit iron-ore project with a 6.9-billion-tonne mineral resource and a 2.1-billion-tonne ore reserve. The project is targeting production of high-grade direct reduced iron (DRI) pellet feed concentrate with very low impurity levels.

The project is planned as a 30-million-tonne-a-year operation over a mine life of more than 30 years, with development proposed in two stages.

Stage 1 comprises a 12-million-tonne-a-year operation, while Stage 2 comprises an 18-million-tonne-a-year expansion to 30-million tonnes a year.

The 30-million-tonne-a-year development will include mine, processing and operational facilities at Zanaga, a buried pipeline and concentrate-handling facilities at Pointe-Indienne. The logistics corridor will connect the mine to the Pointe-Indienne Special Economic Zone, where ZIOC and port development partner Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms are working to advance a minerals export facility.

The updated development strategy incorporates a modular 12-million-tonne-a-year hematite concentrator complex, comprising three four-million-tonne-a-year lines; a two-stage 12-million-tonne-a-year and 18-million-tonne-a-year pipeline system, with an optional single 30-million-tonne-a-year slurry pipeline system; thickened tailings storage facilities; and a 12-million-tonne-a-year filter plant and covered concentrate-handling facilities.

Laboratory-scale DRI testwork completed in 2025 confirmed the project's potential to produce DRI-specification pellet feed concentrate from the Stage 1 hematite and Stage 2 magnetite orebody lithologies. ZIOC reported average product grades of 68.5% iron for Stage 1 and 68.8% iron for the combined Stage 1 and Stage 2 operation in its April 2026 economic update.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The April 2026 economic update estimates a Stage 1 net present value (NPV) of $2.54-billion and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 22.5%. For the combined Stage 1 and Stage 2 operation, it estimates an NPV of $4.90-billion and an IRR of 24.3%.

Capital Expenditure
Stage 1 capital expenditure (capex) is estimated at $2.17-billion. Combined Stage 1 and Stage 2 capex is estimated at $4.05-billion, including Stage 2 expansion capex of $1.87-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
The final investment decision (FID) process is targeted for completion in the second quarter of 2027, with early works contracts expected to be ready for execution in the third quarter and construction targeted to start in the fourth quarter of 2027. 

Latest Developments
ZIOC reported on September 15, 2026, that the bulk-sampling programme was under way and remained on schedule. 

About 30 000 t of ore is being extracted to assemble a 100 t composite sample from the Stage 1 hematite zone. The sample will be used for pilot-scale metallurgical testwork to validate the revised DRI processing flowsheet, refine process-equipment selection and produce concentrate for characterisation and customer testing.

Equipment and personnel mobilisation started in July 2026, marking the first major equipment mobilisation at the site since 2014. The programme is intended to support the front-end engineering design work, and advance the project towards an FID and construction.

In July 2026, ZIOC reported that Red Arc Minerals had made progress towards potential project and infrastructure financing of up to $500-million from a Western government-supported development finance institution. The institution had issued a letter of intent, but the proposed funding remained subject to agreement of documentation and was not certain. ZIOC and Red Arc extended the period for concluding their proposed transaction to November 30, 2026.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
DRA (process plant study); P&C (FDSO evaluation process); Centrale Electrique du Congo (technical, economic and legal aspects required for power generation and distribution for Stage 1 operations); Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (onshore and offshore port infrastructure); and leading Chinese OEMs and construction groups (OEM and constructor engagement programme).

Contact Details for Project Information
ZIOC, tel +44 20 3916 5021 or email info@zanagairon.com.