Interim Report January – March 2018
Significant events during the first quarter 2018
- Mine planning, production schedule and identified mineable resource for Blötberget
- The company received a short-term loan from three major shareholders.
First quarter, 1 January – 31 March 2018
- Income amounted to SEK 0 million (0)
- Earnings after tax amounted to SEK -2.4 million (-2.3)
- Investments during the period January – March totalled SEK 1.1 million (0.9)
- Basic earnings per share were SEK -0.02 (-0.04)
- Cash as per 31 March 2018 amounted to 2.7 million (14,4)
Significant events after the end of the period
- Subject to approval by the AGM, the board decided on a rights issue and to apply for a listing of the share.
- An agreement was reached to convert half of the outstanding loan into shares and to replace the remaining half with a convertible loan with a two-year maturity.
Mineable iron ore defined and production schedule completed
Activities started this year refining the mine design and optimising the mining schedule followed by the issue of the preliminary (non JORC compliant) mineable resources of close to 35Mt. The mine schedule has been calculated year by year (even month by month in the early years of production) and demonstrates that the mine will produce almost 17million tonnes (Mt) in the first 12.3 years of mine life, with an average annual production rate of 1.4Mt, peaking at almost 1.6Mt/y in year 6.
The confirmed mineable reserves will be declared in the latter stages of the feasibility study, when the final specifications of the equipment have been made and the purchase quotations for the equipment and services has been compiled into the economic models. At this point a finalised production schedule will be concluded in the final feasibility report. Here further optimisation of the mining methods can be included. Some upside potential has already been identified and is anticipated to provide around 3Mt of additional reserves in the final calculations.
NIO continues to work with EU sponsored projects, the first of which ERA-MIN project StartGeoDeliniation had an extension in order to provide a final report including geological research in the vicinity of Blötberget. This report is expected to be concluded by the end of May 2018 and will provide valuable information to the geological section of the feasibility study report.
EU sponsored Smart Exploration is expected to start field work in Q1 2019 in the vicinity of the Ludvika mines and another exploration project under ERA-MIN, Leading Edge exploration is to start in May 2018. NIO is also party to other exploration projects submitted for consideration by the EU.
Markets
The iron ore market continues to change with respect to the higher quality premiums and the disconnect between the lower quality iron ores i.e. < 63%Fe and the >65%Fe ores maintains its strength as the message to clean up the environment in the industrial areas of China is recognised as a serious instruction. Furthermore, other industrial nations also are now looking to secure high quality ores for the future, at a time when there are limited numbers of high quality ore projects ready to produce in the next 3 years or so. Some closed projects are looking to reopen, but many of them need to rationalise and reinvest in much more efficient lower cost operations.
Despite predictions that the longer-term estimates for iron ore prices are close to $70/t for the next year or so, falling slowly into the mid-low $60’s by the turn of the decade, premiums are expected to remain between $2-5/t/1%Fe; sufficient to provide a $14-35/t premium for NIO’s products.
Helping the demand for quality iron ore is the recent re-emergence of direct reduction smelting technology in the form of Tata Steels Hisarna project in Europe and the continued growth in DRI production in the MENA regions.
For further information please contact:
Paul Marsden Managing Director
phone: +44 7776 180 988
Nordic Iron Ore Group is a mining company with the ambition to revive and develop the iron ore production of Ludvika Mines in Blötberget and Håksberg. The company also intends to expand its mineral resources, and upgrade them to ore reserves, primarily through exploration and other studies of the connecting Väsman field. The Company has all the necessary permits in place for the mine in Blötberget and will be able to produce iron ore of extremely high quality.
For more information, see www.nordicironore.se.