Anglesey Mining

Anglesey Mining (AYM) says its 33%-owned Canadian associate Labrador Iron Mine holdings (LIM) is poised for first deliveries from its Schefferville projects.

Fully listed Anglesey indicates that LIM expects to produce 750,000 to 1m tonnes this year, with a 2.5m-tonne target for 2012 and a goal of putting 5m tonnes through a new processing plant by 2015,.

Chief executive Bill Hooley, also boss of LIM, suggests that costs should be around $50 (£31.2) a tonne, against an expected $150 net landing price in China, a likely buyer, pointing out that after 2011 LIM (with $92m cash and spending commitments of $85m over two years) will no longer be committed to selling through the Rio Tinto-owned Iron Ore Company of Canada.

The Schefferville projects in eastern Canada claim a formally calculated resource of 40m tonnes of iron ore, which Anglesey, whose entrepreneurial chairman John Kearney also chairs LIM, argues should rise to more than 100m tonnes, given historical estimates of 140m tonnes. 

Anglesey, with £3.2m cash itself, also plans to review its wholly owned 7.76m-tonne Parys Mountain project in North Wales, holding an estimated 9.3% of combined copper, lead and zinc. By the end of the year, the company expects to have decided on one of three options: develop it, obtain a joint venture partner or sell it.

Growth Company Investor highlighted Anglesey shares last year at 37.5p, later suggesting partial profit taking at 61p. They now trade at 51p, at which medium-term prospects look bright.