LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) – African Minerals Ltd (AMIq.L) said a proposed 167.8 million pound ($260 million) investment by China Railway Materials (CRM) to develop the Tonkolili iron ore project has been completed following Chinese government approval.

As previously announced, CRM will take a 12.5 percent stake in African Minerals as a result of the investment and has the right to appoint a non-executive director to the board.

In February, African Minerals verified the size of the Tonkolili project in Sierra Leone at 10.5 billion tonnes of magnetite, making it the biggest deposit in the world.

China’s steel sector, which produced almost half the world’s steel output last year, is the biggest consumer of iron ore.

(Reporting by Julie Crust; editing by Victoria Bryan)

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