The plot thickens.
On December 14 Cameroon establishes it's own state owned mining company.
"...the Cameroonian Public Treasury loses about one billion CFAF every month due to the concealment of resources produced by mining companies. Besides, according to the Ministry of Mines, only 40% of Cameroon's mining potential is known to the public authorities."
https://www.businessincameroon.com/mining/1512-11136-cameroon-establishes-sonamines-a-national-mining-company
The Africans probably do not trust the Chinese (or other foreign companys) paying their fair share of royalties by concealing the true value of the resource.
Two days later;
"...Officially, these Chinese partners approached by Sundance claimed the world iron prices to be discouraging for investment in new projects despite their interests in the Mbalam deposit. However, some sources close to the case think that the partnerships were unsuccessful because of some conditions set by Chinese parties. According to the sources, the Chinese partners wanted to take total control of the project, by dismissing Sundance Resources. Has the Cameroonian government (which recently created a state-owned mining company) finally opted for such a scenario? There is no telling currently."
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:sz0uCwy0oOcJ:https://www.businessincameroon.com/mining/1612-11145-sundance-resources-serves-dispute-notice-to-cameroon-over-mbalam-mining-project+&cd=1&hl=en
