US iron ore – global expertise
Richmond Mining is focused on the development of the Company’s 100% owned Buena Vista magnetite project. Located in the mining friendly state of Nevada in the United States the project offers investors a low risk entry into an emerging steel mill feedstock.
The United States provides mining companies with well situated and established infrastructure with road, rail and port facilities all in place. For Buena Vista, this established infrastructure reduces the development costs by well in excess of a billion dollars and significantly shortens the time taken to get the project into production.
Richmond has already completed the definitive feasibility study and is now engaged in discussions with banks and other potential providers of finance for the development of Buena Vista. In conjunction with an active programme to secure the remaining mining and environmental permits Richmond anticipates that production will commence within 12-15 months of the securing of final finance. At this stage the first half of calendar 2013 is the targeted date for the commencement of production.
Inclusive to the many advantages inherent in BuenaVista are the low capital cost, the very low risk political environment, the cash costs which are equivalent to or better than the majority of emerging magnetite producers and the relatively short time to production. The project also represents a much lower operational risk than most emerging producers because of the proposed scale of production.
Latest News
Mailing List
Buena Vista - USA - Overview
Buena Vista is a magnetite iron deposit that was discovered in 1898, intermittently mined in the 1950s and 1960s and most recently explored by US Steel in the period 1961-1979 as a potential feed for a US based pelletising plant. At least 320 diamond holes have been completed over the whole property, together with extensive metallurgical test work and mining studies.
As part of a their studies, US Steel outlined substantial pre-JORC reserves and resources within the West, South Central, Iron Point, Southwest and Section 5 deposits. These deposits within the historic pit designs had a combined waste to ore ratio of less than one.
All of the current JORC resources and reserves at the Buena Vista project are on private land under patented mining claims. This is an important consideration within the United States and allows Richmond to fast track development through accelerated approvals.
In addition, Buena Vista is located approximately 40 kilometres from the Union Pacific rail line that connects to port facilities at Sacramento, Stockton, Richmond and San Francisco.
In January 2010 Richmond entered into an option to purchase a 100% equity in the project and in June 2011 this option was exercised.
The purchase price of US$6,000,000 was satisfied by the payment of US$3,000,000 in cash and by the issue of 6,187,092 fully paid ordinary shares in the capital of Richmond.
Nevada Iron LLC (a 100% owned subsidiary of Richmond) now owns 100% of the Project and the vendor (Kircher Mine Development LLC) retains a 20% beneficial and net profits interest (“NPI”). Nevada Iron has an additional 18 months to acquire from Kircher the outstanding 20% beneficial interest and NPI for a cash consideration of US$2 million or alternately US$1 million in cash and the granting of a gross revenue royalty of 1.5%.