By Stephen Eisenhammer
LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Guinea-focused iron ore minerSable Mining said on Monday it had been grantedpermission to export through Liberia by the Guinean government,which could increase the viability of its Nimba project.
Liberia, which neighbours Guinea, has an existing rail linkto the Altantic and offers a far shorter export route forSable's Nimba iron ore project.
The company, whose chairman is the former England cricketplayer Phil Edmonds, said the decree was the first to be issuedin Guinea and was an important step towards starting productionin 2015 and hitting 5 million tonnes per year production afterthat.
West Africa, and particularly Guinea which is home to thegiant Simandou deposit, is seen as the next major frontier foriron ore, but a dire lack of infrastructure and the hugeinvestments needed to build it have crippled projects.
"The issuance of our export decree, the first granted by theGovernment of the Republic of Guinea, is a major endorsement forSable Mining and represents yet another critical milestoneachieved by our team," Andrew Groves, Sable chief executive,said in the statement.
In an interview with Reuters last month Groves said themining licence and export decree would be vital evidence thecompany could deliver on its plans. The next step he said wouldbe to raise $200-300 million next year.