Shares in Ironveld PLC (LON:IRON) were among the top performers on Thursday morning, as the company secured financing for its flagship project.
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has approved a 244mln rand (£14mln) funding package for Ironveld’s high purity iron, vanadium and titanium project, which is located on the northern limb of the Bushveld complex in the Limpopo province of South Africa.
The funds will form part of a financing package worth in the region of R841 for the development of the project.
Ironveld is also in the advanced stages of completing the remaining debt agreements for the project, it told investors.
Meanwhile, a five-year off-take agreement has been finalised with Oreport for the high purity iron (HPI) powder production of the project. Based on the project’s definitive feasibility study this represents 42,000 tonnes per annum of HPI.
Oreport is already in the book to take all of the titanium slag from the project, while the company also has an off-taker for the vanadium.
"The IDC is an extremely important partner to have on board and we are very pleased to be working with them on this strategically, economically and socially important project for South Africa. This is a significant step forward in the funding of our project and we are confident of closing the remaining debt package shortly,” said Peter Cox, chief executive officer of Ironveld.
“With such a significant financial partner in South Africa, who completed an extensive due diligence exercise on the project and off-take secured across our three products, we are now in the strongest possible position to conclude the financing package on the best terms for shareholders and move towards construction,” he added.
Shares in Ironveld shot up a penny to 5.5p having reached 6p at one point on Thursday morning.