Cape Lambert Resources is likely to sell its Marampa iron ore project in Sierra Leone soon. The mine which has been put up for sale has attracted many interested buyers including the Chinese, said the managing director of the company, Tony Sage.
Mr Sage, the mining entrepreneur from Perth was in Hong Kong last week where he said that Marampa was ready for sale. While his expectations contrast with the market assessment of the value of the project, he is confident of getting what he wants.
Tony Sage added that they have at least three or four Chinese companies and other corporates larger than them in the data room. He expected this sale to go through as soon as the market recovered a little bit. The mining project is being valued at between $1 billion to 1.9 billion by different brokers.
Marampa is likely to have a life of between 30 to 40 years. It contains close to 680 million tons of iron ore. It is of 28.2 % iron ore and can be upgraded to 65% iron ore by some grinding and separation as per test work conducted by the company.
Marampa is not the only mining project in Africa that Cape Lambert Resources is looking to make a profit from. Mr Sage said that he had hopes for its 25.3% stake in the African Iron company as well. The firm is currently exploring ore in the Republic of Congo at the Mayoko project.
The company is also looking to sell the Sapres gold project located in Greece. They are likely to sell the resource to Glory Resources from Perth for a $32.5 million upfront payment and $4 million in shares along with $10 million in milestone payments.