Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Northland Resources announced on Tuesday that its bond offering has raised $350 million and that it is expanding its share offering to $330 million.
The Luxembourg-based company, advancing iron ore projects in Sweden and Finland, decided to increase the size of the equity offering announced earlier in February due to “high demand” for the securities.
The share offer will raise $325 million – 330 million and reduce the size of the bond offering to the equivalent of $350 million. Institutions and existing shareholders have already subscribed for everything on offer.
Northland’s Kaunisvaara project in Sweden which it likes to call “the fastest greenfield mine project in the world” will exploit two magnetite iron ore deposits and the monies raised should see the project through to its completion. Operation are scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Northland says it has entered into industrial off-take contracts for the entire production from Kaunisvaara and in December received permits to build a new terminal on the Norwegian Barents Sea coast.
The company’s Hannukainen iron oxide, copper and gold project in Kolari, northern Finland is in the feasibility stage with results of the study expected towards the end of the first quarter of 2012.
During the first half of the 20th century Sweden was the world’s number one iron ore exporter while Finland’s iron ore mines date back to the 1500s.
