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发帖数: 1 | 1 Republic of Congo Cancels Iron-Ore Project With Australian Miner
By Elie Smith
2020年12月19日 GMT-8 上午4:30
The Republic of Congo terminated its contract with Australian miner Sundance
Resources Ltd. to develop the massive Mbalam-Nabeba iron-ore deposit and
awarded three new permits to a relatively unknown company with Chinese
backing.
In a Nov. 30 decree jointly signed by President Denis Sassou Nguesso and
four ministers, the government cited several reasons to withdraw the
contract for the iron-ore deposit that straddles the Republic of Congo and
Cameroon, including insufficient development and non-payment of rights.
Instead, permits for three areas known as Avima, Nabeba and Bandodo have
been awarded to Sangha Mining Development, a company based in the city of
Pointe-Noire, according to the decree obtained by Bloomberg. The deposit on
the Congolese side is estimated to hold at least 500 million tons of the ore.
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The Australian miner started operations in northern Congo in 2010 and has
invested almost $300 million. Sundance has notified the government that it
will dispute the withdrawal after hearing of the decision “through informal
channels” earlier this month, Chief Executive Officer Giulio Casello said
by phone. The company has struggled to raise funds for the project because
the environmental impact certificate hasn’t been signed, he said.
Under the current agreement, differences with the government are to be
resolved amicably within 60 days, after which the company can bring the
matter to a court of arbitration in London, Casello said. He declined to say
which steps the company is planning to take.
In 2013, the Chinese company Sichuan Hanlong Group attempted a $1.2 billion
takeover of Sundance that would have given it control of the iron-ore
project.
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