(Alliance News) - Zanaga Iron Ore Co Ltd on Monday reported a narrowed interim loss and said it sees "more encouraging conditions" for the development of its namesake asset in the Republic of Congo as a tier-one iron ore project.
The company owns just under 50% of the Zanaga project, with Glencore PLC holding 50% plus one share.
Zanaga Iron Ore's pretax loss narrowed to USD606,000 in the six months to June 30 from USD831,000 a year ago, helped as administrative expenses were slimmed to USD280,000 from USD480,000. No revenue was generated in either period.
"The first half of 2019 has been very positive for the Zanaga iron ore project and the company. Supported by its shareholders, Jumelles has made substantial progress in progressing the Zanaga project through the definition of a small scale early production project solution while simultaneously engaging with large infrastructure and financing entities on the improved development case for the 30Mtpa staged development project," said Zanaga Chair Clifford Elphick.
Jumelles is the joint venture between Zanaga and Glencore.
He added: "The combination of higher iron ore prices in 2019 as well as simultaneous supply shocks from the major iron ore producers has led to more encouraging conditions for the Zanaga project's development as a tier one iron ore project."
As a result of the appraisal work being undertaken on the early production project, significant progress has been made in taking steps towards potentially repositioning the Zanaga project to be developed initially on the basis of a smaller start-up with a relatively low capital cost investment requirement, the firm said.
Shares in Zanaga were down 6.4% at 11.00 pence in London on Monday.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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