(Ecofin Agency) - Mining firm Kogi Iron completed tests to determine the smelting characteristics of its Agbaja iron project and is about to finalize definitive feasibility study by the end of June.

Also, the firm planned to build an initial mining operation alongside a 250 000 t/yr steel product processing plant at Agbaja. It had in plan to process 5 million tons a year in the long term. The plant should be able to produce three products, with the possibility of quickly switching from one to another, on customer demand.

Capital for the project has been estimated at about $200 million, of which a major part will be spent on the infrastructure and the processing plant. The firm has declared that it plans to restart, in the coming weeks, negotiations with potential investors to fund the Agbaja project.

Kogi Iron Ltd owns in Nigeria an area of about 400 Km2, including 16 concessions, among which the EL12124 licence which extends over most of the Agbaja plateau. In 2014, it estimated to 205 million tons with a 45.7% of iron ore grading, the potential reserves of ore at the Agbaja project. The company submitted a development plan which comprises an initial 6 km2 quarry, holding 158 million tons of resources and another of 2.2 km2 with 63 million tons of resources.

Louis-Nino Kansoun