Mauritania to Expand Iron Ore Production with New SNIM 4 Million-Ton-Per-Year Iron Ore Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Societe Nationale Industrielle et Miniere (SNIM) (Nouadhibou, Mauritania), the national iron ore company of Mauritania, has announced plans to set up a 4 million-ton-per-year concentrated, high-quality iron ore plant in the nation's Al-Zouerate area. The plant is expected to be completed and ready for operation by 2011. The new plant is part of Guelbs II, SNIM's expansion project that includes a new seaport at Nouadhibou and an expansion of its existing mine. The new port will replace the existing one and is scheduled to be operational from 2012. The port initially would be built with a handling capacity of about 170,000 tons, and that is expected to increase to more than 250,000 tons in the future.

In December 2009, SNIM procured a $710 million loan from four financial institutions and four commercial banks to fund the expansion plan. The institutions include the African Development Bank (AfDB) (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire), the European Investment Bank (EIB) (Luxemburg), the French Development Bank (AFD) (Paris, France), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). The commercial banks are Societe Generale (OTC:SCGLY) (Paris), KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany), BNP Paribas SA (OTC:BNPQY) (Paris) and BHF-Bank International SA (Luxemburg). Engineering and construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Incorporated (TSX:SNC) (Montreal, Quebec) will be assisting SNIM in the implementation of Guelbs II.

SNIM is the largest producer of iron ore in North Africa and the second-largest in the African continent. The company expects its iron ore production and sales to reach 11.4 million tons in 2010, an estimate that is about 10% higher than the production of 2009, which was 10.4 million tons. The production volume of 2009 was lower than the 11.2 million tons produced in 2008. The decline was because of the unfavorable condition of the iron ore market last year. The current production capacity of the plant is 12 million tons per year, and with the new plant, the production capacity of the facility is expected to reach 16 million tons per year by 2013.

SNIM's iron ore enjoys a favorable reputation and other than silicon, is known to possess little or no contaminants such as alumina and phosphorus.

SNIM has been catering to the markets of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa for many decades. Its proximity to these market regions has been an advantage and SNIM has had a long-term relationship with its European customers. SNIM's presence in the Chinese market is also growing at a steady pace.

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