London Mining makes AIM debut

Perseverance paid off for London Mining on Friday when it made its highly-awaited debut on to the Alternative Investment Market, after embarking on an ambitious growth programme.
 
The London-headquartered iron ore and coal miner first made its intentions clear in July in a bid to expand its access to a global investment network. The company said it had been firmly focused on identifying, developing and operating scaleable mines to become a mid-tier supplier to the global steel industry.
 
The company, founded in 2005, added that its principle assets hold the potential for further expansion.
 
At present, the miner owns four principle projects in iron ore, spanning Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia, Greenland and China. It plans to ramp up production capacity from 0.4 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 14 mtpa in 2014, bumping up to 20mtpa by 2018.
 
"The ability to develop projects rapidly into efficient producing mines is an important part of the group's capabilities and strategy," a company statement read.
 
London Mining also possesses a 20% interest in ICC, a Colombian coal exploration company, a 39% interest in DMC Coal and a 55% interest in a small Mexican iron ore project.
 
As part of its admission to AIM, London Mining has placed 37,239,225 existing shares at a price of £1.924 with over 30 institutions.
 
Graeme Hossie, chief executive, of London Mining said: "London Mining's admission to AIM, combined with today's placing of shares into the market from pre-existing shareholders gives us both the liquidity and exposure we need in a market that understands mining. We are fully funded to reach all of our key milestones, including full development of the Marampa Mine in Sierra Leone next year to its first phase of production.
 
"As we move our principal projects forward and progress our JORC delineation programme we expect to be able to communicate operational progress regularly to the market. Our objective is to become a mid-tier supplier of bulk commodities to the global steel industry, with a particular focus being directed towards iron ore."
 
The company is also listed on the Oslo Axess market of the Oslo Børs but said it would review its listing in the future.