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Miner commissions EIA for iron ore project

Britannia Mining, a UK-based mining development company whose subsidiary is prospecting for iron ore at Nthale in Blantyre Rural, has announced plans to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the concession area.

“The project will explore opportunities to develop mitigation projects to offset the carbon emissions predicted for the lifetime of the mine operation and related commercial activities that may eventuate,” said the mining firm in a statement on Thursday.

Britannia (Malawi) Limited, a subsidiary of the miner, was awarded a prospecting mining licence in 2009 by the Malawi Government at a multi-million Nthale iron ore project, 22 kilometres north of Blantyre.

The miner said it has appointed Blue Mantle Partners, an international environmental and natural resources consulting and advisory company, to enter into a joint venture project to design and deliver EIA for and on behalf of Nthale Iron Ore concession area.

Last year, the company announced that it had completed a magnetic survey which found high grade iron ore—rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted.

Ores are usually in iron oxides and vary in colour from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple to rusty red.

The discovery of iron ore in Malawi is good news because on the global market the price of iron ore hit an all-time high recently as supply disruptions, particularly in India, the world’s third largest exporter of the steel-making commodity, had tightened the market.

Nthale iron ore deposits, which rise 40 metres above the Chileka plain, are located seven kilometres from the nearest railway station at Lirangwe,

The transport link to Nthale is good with road and rail connecting to Liwonde then to a number of ports in Mozambique such as Nacala, where vessels can load cargo for export across the Indian Ocean.

A study commissioned by Britannia in early 2010 found that the regional geophysical and magnetic signature at Nthale is encouraging with evidence detailing historical sampling during the 1960s confirming that the area bears high grade ore in excess of 68 percent.

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