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London Mining Plc
7 September 2008
London Mining Plc (LOND.NO)
("London Mining" or the "Company")
London Mining Plc – Writ issued in relation to Marampa iron ore project, Sierra Leone
London Mining Plc announces that its Sierra Leonean subsidiary, London Mining Company
Limited (“together the Company”), has served a writ in Sierra Leone on SLDC Exploration
Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of African Minerals Limited (together “African
Minerals”).
The claim relates to the Company’s iron ore project at formerly producing Marampa mine in
Sierra Leone. The Company has a 25 year Mining Lease from the Government of Sierra
Leone over the old Marampa mines area previously mined by DELCO.
London Mining is seeking i) a declaration that its Mining Lease coordinates are valid and
subsisting, ii) an injunction preventing African Minerals from entering its Mining Lease area
and iii) damages for trespass on the Mining Lease area.
African Minerals is asserting that certain areas within London Mining’s Mining Lease area
fall within its Exploration Licence. African Minerals has recently announced that it is
intending to sell a stake in the company containing the Marampa Exploration Licence to Cape
Lambert Iron Ore (“Cape Lambert”) with an option for Cape Lambert to purchase African
Minerals’ entire Marampa interests. London Mining is vigorously defending the coordinates
of its Mining Lease area in order to protect value to its shareholders.
The disputed area covers approximately 30% of the area of the Company’s Mining Lease and
includes areas where the Company has been carrying out mining operations over the past
year. It should be noted that, while the exclusion of this area would reduce the potential total
mineable tonnage, it would not affect the planned production rate or the timing of start-up of
mining operations at the Marampa mine.
Graeme Hossie, Director of London Mining, said “London Mining invested in Sierra Leone
three years ago as it was a country that had made a clear commitment to building long term
economic growth with overseas companies. Its legislative structure has been set up to protect
all companies under Sierra Leone law and we have every confidence that this dispute can be
resolved to our satisfaction through the courts.
London Mining is one of the largest mining companies operating in Sierra Leone and is
ready to re-establish a productive and profitable iron mining sector in the country. Every
preparation has been made to begin production once the government clarifies final logistics
arrangements for the use of the railway and port that served the previous mining operation.
London Mining is ready to rehabilitate the infrastructure immediately and, once this issue is
resolved, plans to restart mining operations with first iron exportation within 12-18 months.”
London Mining Plc
39 Sloane Street Phone: +44 (0) 20 7201 5000
London Fax: +44 (0) 20 7201 5050
United Kingdom Email: [email protected]
SW1X 9LP Website: www.londonmining.co.uk
Registered office in England & Wales: 39 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9LP (No. 5424040)
2.
London Mining in Sierra Leone
The Company has been involved in the Marampa project since December 2005 and is
currently in the process of restarting mining operations at Marampa. Marampa was originally
mined by DELCO from 1935-1975 and by another operator from 1982-1985.
In February 2005, Tecsbaco International Incorporated Company Limited (“Tecsbaco”) a
local company run by Sierra Leoneans, was granted a 25 year Mining Lease over the
Marampa mine site from the Government of Sierra Leone. Tecsbaco had previously held an
exploration licence over a lesser area. On 22 September 2006, London Mining Company
Limited purchased the Lease from Tecsbaco. The transfer was assigned and fully approved
by the Sierra Leone Ministry of Mineral Resources, government committees and Cabinet
ratification.
The Mining Lease grants the Company the exclusive right to mine iron ore over the Mining
Lease area at Marampa which includes the old site previously mined by Delco and many of
the tailings from previous mining operations.
The Company also has the benefit of a 25 year Lease with effect from 7 March 2007 from the
Marampa Masimera Chiefdom Council of the land comprised in the Mining Lease area.
SLDC/African Minerals
On 1st September 2006, an Exploration Licence was granted by the Government of Sierra
Leone to African Minerals over the area surrounding the Company’s Mining Lease area.
The Exploration Licence stated that it excluded the area of the earlier exploration licence held
by Tecsbaco over the lesser area. It should, however, have excluded the area of the Mining
Lease. It therefore contained incorrect coordinates and did not properly exclude all the area
within the Company’s Mining Lease area. It failed to exclude 2 significant strips of land of
around 4.83 sq kms which contain tailings from the previous mining operations and
prospective exploration areas. African Minerals are claiming such areas and have recently
announced that they are intending to sell a stake in their Marampa investment with an option
to purchase their entire interest to Cape Lambert.
The Company’s position, based on advice, is that African Minerals’ Exploration Licence is
invalid under Sierra Leonean law to the extent that it seeks to include any area covered by the
Company’s prior issued Mining Lease. The Company understands, based on advice, that
under Sierra Leone law, an exploration licence cannot take precedence over a previously
existing Mining Lease.
The Company has sought to resolve this matter with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Mineral
Resources. The Ministry of Mineral Resources previously confirmed in a formal letter in
May 2007 that the co-ordinates contained in London Mining’s Lease were the correct ones.
The Sierra Leone Ministry of Mineral Resources has however recently stated to African
Minerals by letter the validity of the coordinates in its Exploration Licence and has written to
London Mining Plc
39 Sloane Street Phone: +44 (0) 20 7201 5000
London Fax: +44 (0) 20 7201 5050
United Kingdom Email: [email protected]
SW1X 9LP Website: www.londonmining.co.uk
Registered office in England & Wales: 39 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9LP (No. 5424040)
3.
London Mining giving coordinates for the Company’s Mining Lease which excludes the two
disputed strips of land.
For this reason, the Company has issued proceedings in the Sierra Leonean Courts to have its
position upheld under the laws of that country.
For further information, please contact:
London Mining Plc
Christopher Brown, Managing Director +44 (0)20 7201 5000
Graeme Hossie, Corporate Development & Deputy Managing
Director
+44 (0)20 7201 5000
Threadneedle Communication (UK)
Laurence Read/ Graham Herring +44 (0) 20 76539850
Crux Kommunikasjon AS
Charlotte Knudsen +47 97 56 19 59
Notes to the Editors:
London Mining
London Mining is incorporated and registered in the UK, and is developing mines to supply
the global steel industry. In 2007, London Mining raised over US$185m to advance iron ore
production from its projects, and listed on the Oslo Axess, a marketplace regulated by the
Oslo Stock Exchange on 9 October 2007. Following the sale of its Brazilian operations in
August 2008 for over US$800m, the Company has mining, exploration and development
projects located in Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia, Greenland, Mexico and South Africa, and
total iron ore resources of 1.3 billion tonnes containing an estimated 459Mt of iron. London
Mining is trading under the Reuters symbol LOND.OL and Bloomberg symbol LOND:NO.

Please also visit our website www.londonmining.co.uk for more information about London
Mining and its operations.