PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Canada’s Macarthur Minerals has inked a binding $4-billion life-of-mine offtake agreement with diversified major Glencore over the iron-ore at its Lake Giles project, in Western Australia.
In terms of the agreement, Glencore would acquire an average of four-million tonnes a year of Lake Giles iron-ore, over an initial ten-year period, with the option to extend for a following ten years for all future tonnes.
“Securing this approximately $4-billion purchase arrangement ensures consistent long-term revenue to the company. Seeing a commitment of this size validates our resource and project and puts Macarthur in a position to maximize value to our shareholders,” said Macarthur executive chairperson Cameron McCall.
“Macarthur’s management is pursuing debt financing discussions with European banks and international financial institutions. Achieving this key milestone is the beginning for Macarthur to transition into a large-scale global resource production company.
“A project of this size will provide long term Western Australian job creation for a generation, especially in the local region of the proposed iron-ore mines and for the port workforce in Esperance.”
The combined Moonshine magnetite and Ularring hematite are expected to require a capital investment of $335-million, with operating costs estimated to be around A$55/t of magnetite and A$42/t of hematite, free-on-board.