Mining hot spots. Recent West African iron ore projects. African Minerals (AMI)Ltd,Rio Tinto Plc and ArcelorMittal intend spending USD25 billion on 3170 miles of new and rebuilt railway and 11 new ports in iron ore rich West Africa (according to JP Morgan Chase & Co) Webber Wentzel - ALN.
Just a few items on a report on Cameroon,Gabon,The Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Titled Chinese activities in the mining sector.
Gabon.Brainforest interviews with villagers in Mekob,near the Chinese concession,the company allows access to the forest for subsistence activities.On the other hand,the company does not have a management plan,whereby it would be required by law to set aside areas for community usufruct rights.
Cameroon Chinese private Hong Kong -headquartered timber company. Despite its large holdings,the Hong Kong groups annual production has been irregular over the past several years.Ranked 1. for concession holdings at 570,000 (ha). Cameroon holders ranking is 5th. Annual timber production 2006,7,8,and 2009. Cameroon 2,289,416m3 - 2,086,244 - 2,166,363 and 1,875,460. Hong Hong Group.185,959 -89,433 - 157,314 and 71,717m3.
Reminds me of other things I have read about the Chinese getting their hands on large resources and then not exploiting them to there true potential.Stops others from getting these large resources. Does Belinga come to mind?
Sicomines deal Chinese company. Even in this preliminary prospecting phase,according to a local cooperative,Sicomines has destroyed people's fields and disturbed local schools,resulting in complaints.However,it is possible that corruption occurred causing local authorities to ignore these complaints. According to a local resident and former Gecamines employee,around200 local residents were at one point displaced and given plastic sheeting,but no compensation.Also according to local informants,the Sicomines deal has already caused delocation of artisanal miners,which is executed by the Service des mines.When this occurs,diggers receive no compensation,since their presence is illegal,although they may have been allowed to remain for some time for social reasons. Sicomines is expected to employ 10,000 workers,but a high percentage is expected to be Chinese. Currently Chinese skilled employees are paid about $1200 per month.Congolese casual labourers earn US$8.85 per day.
Cases of Chinese abuse.2010a case in which artisanal miners working in open pits were accidentally buried by a Chinese company's machines,sparking protests resulting in the shooting of 10 people.While there are no known cases of Chinese bosses shooting workers themselves,there are reported cases of grave abuses some of which have led to court cases,including a manager stabbing a worker in the temple with a screwdriver,a manager whipping four employees, a manager urinating on a worker,and dismissal of injured workers without sufficient medical attention or compensation.
Belinga initial infrastructure investment was to be US$3 billion in the form of conditional loans from China Eximbank.However after Comibel finished preliminary technical studies in 2009,the price tag for the mine and infrastructure had ballooned to $5.9 billion.
The Huazhou manganese mining deal (CICMH) The Sino-Gabonese joint venture CICMH (Compagnie Industrielle at Commerciale des Mines Huazhou),whose majority shareholder is Chinese State Company CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation),has been awarded a manganese concession in Ndjole which is expected to produce 1 million tonnes of manganese annually.CICMH is also currently building a plant in Ndjole where 50% of the extracted ores will be processed. The remainder will be processed in factories in China. (This project has been about to start since 2008.)
This project,Belinga both suppose to start around the same time.Belinga is way behind SDL.Both owned by the Chinese.
In Cameroon during the period 2006-2009 and on the basis of an analysis of 31 exploration permits targeting the southern Cameroon forest,the total cost of investment in mineral exploration for 10 products amounted to 25 billion CFA francs (US$50.6 million)of which half the capital is Australian.The Chinese investment comes in much lower at an estimated 0.9 billion CFA francs (1,845 million).
Regards Westcott.
SDL Price at posting:
33.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
