25 March 2021COMMENCEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION AGAINST CONGOSundance Resources Limited (“Sundance” or the “Company”) wishes to announce today that, through itssubsidiary Congo Iron SA (“Congo Iron”), it has referred its dispute with the Republic of Congo (“Congo”)to arbitration in London under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”). The disputearises out of Congo Government's unlawful expropriation of Congo Iron's mining permit in the Sangharegion of Congo and related rights and interests (“Nabeba”).As announced on 3 March 2021, Sundance, through Congo Iron, agreed to extend the period ofnegotiations with Congo by 30 days (that was until 18 March 2021) to allow discussions to progress withCongo. Having extended the negotiation period, there was no meaningful engagement with the CongoGovernment, and indeed during the extended negotiation period the Congo Government saw fit to dealwith Nabeba in the manner described below.On 13 March 2021, Congo announced through its Department of Finance that it had signed agreementswith Sangha Mining Development SASU (“Sangha Mining”) to exploit the iron ore from three tenementsin the Sangha region of Congo – Nabeba, which was expropriated from Congo Iron, and two other projects,Badondo and Avima – and export the ore through the Congo port of Pointe Noire. The announcementincluded a potential capital investment of $US18.5 billion to generate an iron ore production rate of100Mtpa (“Sangha Mining Project”). The announcement stated that commencement of exploitation wasscheduled for Q4 2021, with exports of iron ore to begin in 2023. The Department of Finance disclosedthat Chinese parties were involved in the signing ceremony with Sangha Mining though their identity androle were not disclosed.Sundance makes the following observations regarding the Sangha Mining Project and Congo’s definitionof the new iron ore project:• The Mining Convention between Congo and Congo Iron, covering the Nabeba Iron Ore Project, stillexists and has the force of law in Congo;• The Sangha Mining Project will require a railway line of some 1400km, which is almost three timesthe length of the railway required for Sundance’s Mbalam-Nabeba Iron Ore Project, and which will bethrough uncharted regions in the Congo Basin (including significant nature reserves);• There is no evidence of any engineering work to support the Sangha Mining Project’s proposedproduction rates, costs and iron ore reserves. The only company that has ever delivered reservenumbers and engineering work in Congo is Sundance (through Congo Iron), as part of the Company'swork to develop the world-class Mbalam-Nabeba Iron Ore Project;• In Cameroon, where Sundance has a fully engineered rail route, the schedule for construction of therail route is four years using Chinese contractors with world-class capabilities;• The Sangha Mining Project timeline is impossible to meet, which supports Sundance’s belief that noengineering work has occurred; and• Sangha Mining is an unknown company, recently registered in Congo and operating under a numberof $1 shell companies in Hong Kong and Anguilla, a low-transparency jurisdiction in the Caribbean.
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