Wits Basin Precious Minerals has signed purchase contracts for the acquisition of a producing iron ore mine, a separate, nearby drill-indicated iron ore resource, and a processing plant located near Maanshan, Anhui Province in China. The producing mine and the drill-indicated resource total more than 94 Mt of magnetite iron ore. The processing plant is now producing up to 1,700 t/d of iron ore concentrate that averages 62% Total Fe. All output is sold directly to nearby steel mills at negotiated spot prices. Wits Basin is planning a staged increase in production.

Wits Basin is a minerals exploration and development company holding interests in three exploration projects and contracts in China. The iron ore purchase price and terms materially conform to previously announced terms and conditions. The payments are subject to confirmation of permits and ore rights and other such ordinary and customary required due diligence rights.

In related news, the company has engaged Loong Keat Tan, a former Rio Tinto mining executive on an exclusive, full-time basis. Tan served Rio Tinto for 21 years, serving as General Manager of world class projects including Hamersley Iron’s Mount Tom Price Operations in Western Australia and Bougainville Copper’s mine in Papua New Guinea. He also served as head of Rio Tinto Asia’s Hong Kong office and Rio Tinto’s Beijing Representative Office.