Geneva March 28th: Vitol SA signed a USD 45 million prepayment agreement with London Mining for the annual offtake of 2 million wet metric tonnes of iron ore for 5 years, starting in 2013 in parallel with London Mining’s ramp up in production to 5 million tonnes per annum.
Pricing will be based off the Platts 63.5/63% Index and will include a premium to reflect the Fe content of the product.
Subject to certain additional conditions being met, the facility may be increased to USD 55 million, and the offtake contract extended for a further one year. The facility is repayable in two tranches over 3 and 5 years respectively, with no payments due in the first twelve months.