Bellzone raises US$133 million on strong demand

Finance

Publishing Date: 02 Mar 2011 10:34am GMT
Author: Mining Journal

Bellzone, the Guinean iron-ore company, has raised US$133 million in a share sale. This was US$33 million more than initially intended due to “extremely strong institutional demand”.

In addition, the shares were placed at £0.80/share, a premium of less than 2% to the closing price on Tuesday.

The funds will be used to fund the Forécariah project, a 50/50 joint venture between China International Fund Ltd (CIF) and Bellzone, which was first announced last August. The iron-ore deposits within the Forecariah project lie only 40km from the Guinea coast.

On Tuesday it was also announced that CIF would purchase US$100 million worth of shares in Bellzone, ensuring that Bellzone’s contribution to Forécariah is fully funded to production.

Following a geological assessment on the project, the joint venture partners decided to implement an accelerated programme to develop the project, targeting 10Mt/y of direct shipping ore (DSO) at full production.

The Forecariah JV permits are situated in an area 40-80km from the south coast of Guinea, with dirt road access to the port of Benti.