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Iron Ore

Exxaro holds 20% of Sishen Iron Ore Company (Pty) Limited. The company operates the Sishen and Thabazimbi mines, producing some 32,4Mtpa of lumpy and fine iron ore, two-thirds of which is exported. Sishen is one of the largest single open-pit mines in the world, known for its high grade and consistent product quality.

Physical information
The following table sets out the salient physical information of SIOC for the six months ended 30 June 2006 and the financial year ended 31 December 2005:


	2005	2006
Total production (kt)	30 987	15 330
Total sales (kt)	31 285	15 042
Domestic	9 172	3 835
Exports	22 113	11 207

Financial information
The following table sets out salient financial information of SIOC for the six months ended 30 June 2006 and the financial year ended 31 December 2005:


R million	2005	2006
Turnover	6 572	3 846
EBITDA	3 069	2 075
Capital expenditure	404	489

Sishen

Apart from its well-developed infrastructure at the mine in the Northern Cape province, Sishen benefits from its 861 km rail link to the dedicated bulk handling port of Saldanha Bay. The rail link and deepwater port at Saldanha Bay are globally competitive in both scale and efficiency and the sustained growth in tonnage exported from Sishen reflects close cooperation and regular planning with state utility Transnet, which operates the rail link and port facility. Following a phase of modernisation and optimisation, production at Sishen reached a high of 28,8Mtpa in 2005.

Thabazimbi

Thabazimbi has operated for the last 75 years and its production of 2,5Mtpa is supplied under a long-term supply agreement to Mittal SA at cost of production plus a 3% management fee. Capital expenditure incurred at Thabazimbi is financed by Mittal SA. While haematite mineral reserves at Thabazimbi give the mine a projected life of four years, a project is under way to extend this by 20 years.

Sishen Iron Ore Company growth

It is anticipated that extensive brownfield and greenfield growth prospects will enable Sishen Iron Ore Company to expand its iron ore production from 32Mtpa to 42Mtpa by 2009 and 70Mtpa by 2015.

CONTACT:
Kumba Iron Ore
Tel: + 27 12 683 7000
Website: www.kumba.co.za

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