Iron ore juniors continue to unveil funding deals to accelerate...

Iron ore juniors continue to unveil funding deals to accelerate development of projects, capitalizing on strong share prices and increasingly positive outlook for the commodity. Latest to move are Flinders Mines and Sundance Resources.

Flinders is carrying out a A$52.8 million capital raising with funds to underpin work on its Pilbara iron ore project. Sundance appoints Deutsche Bank as an adviser and looks set to join the growing list of iron ore juniors offering cornerstone stakes and offtake deals to steel mills in return for a cash boost and access to debt.

Deutsche Bank has overseen a number of these deals and people familiar with the situation say Sundance has already had talks with Chinese mills. There has been much speculation about looming consolidation in the iron ore sector and no doubt there are more deals to be done.

But a strong run in share prices means some predators may struggle to see value and, for now, deals where steel mills put their foot on juniors with minority stakes may be more common.