Production On Track To Commence In Q2 2021
Tombador Iron Limited (ASX:TI1) has successfully commissioned the crushing and screening plant and tested its Tombador open cut mine in Brazil with ore.
CEO Gabriel Oliva said the plant is now ready for operations with a design capacity of 400 tonnes per hour.
The first blast has also been fired as part of the pre-stripping operations, to remove overburden and to access the outcropping ore from the main orebody.
“Now that the key mine infrastructure is constructed and commissioned, we are ready for the site inspection by the environmental bureau of the state of Bahia,” Oliva said.
“This will be the final step in the approval process for the Operating License and gives us confidence we are on track to meet our target of first production next quarter.”
The company is now awaiting the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) to grant its Mining Concession which follows the approval of the PAE (feasibility study) by the National Mining Agency (ANM) in early December 2020.
Once the Mining Concession and the Operating License have been obtained, the company will be allowed to operate the mine and sell lump and fines to Trafigura and to local steel mills.
On February 4, 2021, Tombador revealed it haf executed a binding offtake agreement with Trafigura do Brasil Exportacao, Importacao e Comercio Ltda Trafigura is part of the Trafigura Group founded in 1993 and active in commodity trading and logistics.
The arrangement is for an initial term of three years commencing on first production and will be automatically renewed on an annual basis following the Initial Term, unless terminated by notice from either party.
The Offtake Agreement operates on the basis that Trafigura will purchase 100% of the high-grade lump and fines iron ore mined from the Tombador Project that the company sells into the international export market.
