LONDON (ShareCast) - AIM-listed Zanaga Iron Ore has been granted a mining licence and mining convention for its eponymous Zanaga Project in the Republic of Congo (RoC).

The company said on Friday that the government has approved the project following applications made in May, supported by a feasibility study and a social environmental impact assessment.

The project, which will be developed in two stages, is "underpinned by one of the largest iron ore deposits in Africa and is planned to be a low-cost iron ore operation".

Stage one consists of a 12m tonne-per-annum (mtpa) operation, which will expand by a further 18mtpa in stage two, taking it to an average of 30mtpa over the project's 30-year mine life.

Zanaga Iron Ore's chairman Clifford Elphick said he was "delighted" by the government approval.

"The development of this world class iron ore project will have a significant beneficial impact on the RoC, both at the grassroots level around the project site, as well as more broadly on the country's infrastructure and economy," he said.

The stock was up 7.8% at 18.6p in early trading.

"While the JV will still need to come up with the circa $3bn to get the project going, this is positive news in that it is another tick in the box that any potential strategic investor will require," said analysts at Investec on Friday morning.

BC

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