Canadian miner Black Iron plans to sell the first 4mn mt of its iron ore production from the Shymanivske mine to Ukraine-based Cargill Metal this year.
Under an offtake agreement signed with Cargill, the Ukrainian company will provide a $75mn finance facility to Black Iron for further construction of the mine after due diligence and completion of negotiations, the Canadian miner said in a statement.
Cargill Metal is an iron ore and steel trader and investor in North America with over 50mn mt of iron ore trades in a year. This offtake agreement will be for a term of 10 years based on profit-sharing components benefitting both companies.
The firms plan to produce iron ore with 68pc or higher iron content to be more environmentally friendly and expect to reduce 30pc emission during production at the Shymanivske mine.