Zanaga Iron Ore Company Ltd’s (LON:ZIOC) chairman has hailed “a rise in global investment into large scale iron ore projects”, which he said provides a strong investment case for the company’s project in the Republic of Congo (ROC).
In a statement accompanying the company’s final results, Zanaga's non-executive chairman, Clifford Elphick also said iron ire prices had been resilient and premiums for “high quality iron ore products” had been maintained, further bolstering the company’s investment case.
READ: Zanaga Iron Ore Company enters equity funding facility with Shard Merchant Capital
The chairman noted that “significant progress” had been made to “unlock logistical challenges” associated with the company’s 30mln tonnes per annum (Mtpa) staged development project at the site as well as an early production project focused on 1-5Mtpa production scenarios which are currently under investigation and focusing on processing facilities and suitable logistics solutions through the ROC and/or the Republic of Gabon.
“The efforts of the project team are now bearing fruit and we are enthusiastic about the prospects for further value enhancements to be concluded during [the second half of 2020]”, Elphick said.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, Zanaga reported a pre-tax loss of US$1.88mln compared to a US$1.86mln loss in the prior year, while the company ended the year with a cash balance of US$800,000.
Over the year, the company said it has agreed a work programme and budget for 2020 with a subsidiary of Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) and that the coronavirus pandemic had not had a “material impact” on the group.