London Mining takes AIM
Article Date: Nov 06 2009
Iron ore company London Mining, with operations in Greenland and elsewhere, has started trading on AIM.
As foreshadowed here last month, cash-rich iron ore company London Mining has started trading on AIM.
Founded by chief executive officer Graeme Hosse, a Canadian former management consultant and sector specialist, London Mining, hitherto listed in Norway on Oslo’s junior Axess market, has four high-grade projects, in Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia, China and Greenland, and an eventual production target of 20 million tonnes of iron ore a year. Among them are Marampa in Sierra Leone, with 48 million tonnes from past mining, a 50 per cent-owned joint venture at Wadi Sawawin in Saudi Arabia with a five to ten million-tonne annual production target, an estimated 507 million-tonne project at Isua in Greenland and a 50 per cent-owned venture at Xiaonanshan near Nanjing in China.
Unlike most AIM mining hopefuls, London Mining comes to market with more than £140 million cash, having profitably sold a Brazilian iron ore operation to steel producer Arcelor Mittal for £500 million and returned a hefty chunk of the proceeds to shareholders. Some key investors are using the company’s AIM admission to sell down their holdings with a placing for around £74 million at a discounted 192.4p.
Shares in London Mining, which is considering floating its XNS Chinese subsidiary in Hong Kong, reached 206p in early trading today. With key iron ore consumer China reflating, the company, where ex-Tory MP and minister Sir Nicholas Bonsor is a non-executive director, looks well placed to take advantage of market opportunities.
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