Financial development
First quarter, 1 January - 31 March 2025
· Sales amounted to SEK 0 million (0)
· Earnings after tax amounted to SEK -6.1 million (-3.1)
· Investments amounted to SEK 8.0 million (0.3) during the period
· Earnings per share before amounted to -0.09 SEK (-0.08)
· Cash and cash equivalents amounted to SEK 103.2 million (2.2) on March 31, 2025
Significant events during the first quarter 2025
· Ylva Wård has been appointed Director of EHSQ & HR for Nordic Iron Ore AB, with a start date no later than March 17, 2025. The role reports to the CEO and includes responsibility for environment, sustainability, quality, and HR.
· Smart Exploration Research Center and Nordic Iron Ore AB have initiated a collaboration to explore promising seismic properties in the Blötberget area through a deep drilling program in partnership with Epiroc. The drilling, carried out by Protek, will begin on January 15, 2025, and continue until April 2025, with a focus on minimal environmental impact, community engagement, and transparency towards local communities. All activities will adhere to high safety and environmental standards.
· Deep drilling has encountered promising iron-oxide mineralization. The drilling of the first hole has now been completed, and promising iron-oxide mineralization has been found.
Significant events after the period
· Nordic Iron Ore is entering a new phase and is changing its brand name to Nordic Iron, along with a new visual identity, to clarify its ambition as a modern mining company and its position in the value chain for fossil-free steel.
CEO comments
Intense work in a turbulent global environment
The work initiated at the end of last year continued and has been carried out with high intensity during the first quarter of the year. Exploration is ongoing in several areas around the previously known deposit in Blötberget, with promising results at depth indicating good potential to expand mineral resources. The feasibility and profitability study is progressing, and the first more concrete results are expected during the second quarter. In parallel, the global market situation has become increasingly turbulent, and both the USD exchange rate and iron ore prices have, from the Company's perspective, developed negatively in the early months of the year. In the current market situation, the Company finds that it will be very difficult to secure project financing for the start of the construction, in its current size, on reasonable terms. The Company therefore intends to pause financing efforts to carry out a strategic review of the project.
The goal of the exploration and the ongoing deep drilling program in and around Blötberget, which was launched in 2024, is to increase mineral resources by up to 35 million tonnes - a significant increase if successful. So far, the drillings have shown good, in some cases even very good, mineralization's, indicating a good potential to expand mineral resources. However, some of the drilling campaigns have partly stalled in brecciated and fault zones, which has unfortunately led to delays. In a few near-surface areas, results have been disappointing, as the extent of the mineralization has not been sufficient for profitable mining. These areas have therefore been abandoned. At this stage, it is too early to draw conclusions regarding the overall outcome of the exploration.
The Company's ambition remains to incorporate the new exploration results into the updated feasibility and profitability study, as well as in the assessments of mineral resources and mineral reserves currently ongoing as part of the study. The work to update the feasibility and profitability study was fully established during the quarter and is progressing as expected. Drilling is still ongoing and is expected to be completed during the second or third quarter. Due to the expanded and delayed drilings and uncertainties in the results, it is challenging to ensure that sufficient exploration data is available in time for the study. This makes it challenging to include the improved profitability that increased mineral resources and mineral reserves would bring - which, in the current investment climate, we consider a necessity.
We are continuing to investigate the potential of producing a saleable byproduct with high grade of phosphorus and rare earth elements. The Company depends on conducting analyses and test runs with external partners. However, delays among these partners mean that we are still unable to provide a clear answer as to whether a marketable byproduct can be developed.
The global environment has been turbulent in the early part of the year, and compared with the first quarter of 2024, both iron ore prices and the USD have moved in a negative direction for the Company - significantly complicating efforts to secure project financing for the start of construction. Even though when production begins, we expect to deliver our products into a market characterized by a shortage of high-grade iron ore products, the current market sentiment has a major impact on the terms of our project financing. Nordic Iron Ore is far from alone in being affected by this. There are also signs that the expected shortage of high-grade iron ore concentrate for fossil-free steel production may be delayed into the 2030s. While the future market we are targeting is not expected to be affected to the same degree by current short-term price fluctuations, such fluctuations still influence our project financing discussions here and now.
In summary, the delayed results from ongoing exploration drilling, the uncertainty surrounding a potential byproduct business, the preliminary outcomes of the updated feasibility and profitability study - expected in the second quarter - and the ongoing market turbulence have led us to assess that it will not be possible to secure project financing on reasonable terms in the near future.
The Company therefore intends to pause these efforts and instead focus resources on conducting a comprehensive strategic review of the project during the spring and summer, to ensure sufficient profitability in the project for the upcoming project financing. The Company remains committed to its vision of becoming a relevant player in this market segment and to generate strong long-term returns for you, our shareholders.
Ronne Hamerslag
Chief Executive Officer
Nordic Iron Ore AB (publ)
For more information, please contact:
Ronne Hamerslag
Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: +46 (0)240 88 301
E-mail: ronne.hamerslag@nordicironore.se
About Nordic Iron Ore
Nordic Iron Ore is a mining company focused on the Ludvika region. The company plans to produce an ultra high-grade iron ore concentrate with a low carbon dioxide footprint, with a focus on fossil-free iron and steel production. Nordic Iron Ore is actively pursuing critical raw materials like phosphorus and rare earth elements as possible by-products, contributing to society's green transition.
For more information, see www.nordicironore.se.
Nordic Iron Ore's shares and warrants are listed at Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Wildeco is the company's Certified Adviser
This information is information that Nordic Iron Ore is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 2025-05-21 08:00 CEST.
