Black Iron adds Larry King as special advisor to bolster international presence

Black Iron (TSE:BKI) has retained media personality and former broadcast interviewer Larry King as special advisor in a bid to bolster its international profile, the company announced on Monday.
King, who recently retired from CNN after 25 years as host of Larry King Live, will provide international advisory and awareness services.
King has interviewed prominent athletes, actors, writers, politicians and foreign dignitaries, including a number of interviews with Ukrainian and Russian officials.
In addition, he has won two Peabody Awards, an Emmy and 10 Cable ACE Awards for work syndicated across the world.
In a statement, Black Iron chief executive, Matt Simpson, said: “We are excited to have Larry King join the Black Iron team to help augment our international profile.
"Larry will provide valuable insight into international affairs, but more importantly, he brings an extensive network of relationships both in Ukraine and abroad."
Both King’s connections and experience are expected to help Black Iron on many fronts, such as raising the profile of Ukraine and the company’s project as “attractive” investment opportunities, it said.
Black Iron, which is advancing its 100 percent owned Shymanivske project in Krivoy Rog, Ukraine, has a measured and indicated resource of 345 million tonnes grading 32 percent iron and 469 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 31 percent iron. Shymanivske is surrounded by five other operating mines including ArcelorMittal's (NYSE:MT) iron ore complex.
A preliminary economic assessment on the property in late October indicated a low cost pellet plant feed operation, with a project high value and net cash flows. The preliminary report, completed by BBA of Montreal, Quebec, considered two production scenarios over a 28 year mine life, the first being a 7.3 million tonne per year iron ore pellet plant feed, and the second being a production alternative for producing 7.6 million tonnes per year of iron ore pellets.
The first option dictated a projected 42.1 percent internal rate of return (IRR), with a whopping US$3 billion net present value, at an 8 percent discount rate. Total capital costs came in just shy of $900 million, with a payback period of 2.2 years, and an estimated operating cost for the average initial 20 years of $52.40 per tonne.
The second scenario for Shymanivske outlined the option to produce a higher margin pellet product of 65 percent iron grade, generating a much higher net present value of US$4.1 billion at the same discounted rate, but with a reduced 35.2 percent internal rate of return, due to raised construction costs, Black Iron said.