Other articles from Dow Jones Newswires, yet to be published: - DJ Interview: Sundance Resources says Talks with potential Mbalam partners continue
- Sundance adviser will undertake review of project timeline
http://www.cmemarkets.com/v3/2010/06/21/dj-sundance-resources-talks-with-cameroon-government-postponed/ DJ Sundance Resources Talks With Cameroon Government Postponed Mon Jun 21 08:41:48 2010 EDT
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (Dow Jones)--High-level talks between Australian mining firm Sundance Resources Ltd. (SDL.AU) and senior Cameroon government decision-makers have been postponed, a Cameroon administrative official and a person at the company's Cameroon office said, as the search continued for a missing plane that was carrying six of the company's executives.
"The meeting that was billed to be held this Monday with the ministry of Industries, Mines and Technological Development as well as other top government officials has been called off till further notice," an official at the ministry, who has been following the talks, told Dow Jones Newswires.
The Sundance executives, who arrived in Cameroon last week, had entered into high-level discussions with senior officials of the West African nation, seeking to secure a permit to start a 25-year-long iron-ore mineral exploitation.
An official of CamIron S.A., the Cameroon affiliate of Sundance, said: "All our executives are out with military rescuers combing the forests along the path of the missing plane that carried our Australian bosses. So, the meeting that was programmed to be held today [Monday] between our company and senior government officials has been called off till further notice."
Rescuers from Cameroon, neighboring Republic of Congo and Gabon have resumed their search in the hilly equatorial jungle, Cameroonian officials said.
Investigators expressed fears Sunday that the CASA C-212 twin turboprop could have crashed in Djoum, a small town located some 200 kilometers southeast of Yaounde, and some 250 kilometers from Mbalam, where Sundance owns an iron ore mining site.
Cameroon's Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary told Dow Jones Newswires Monday: "We fear the plane crashed in the forest," adding the jungle is dense and difficult to access. "We are trying to find the wreckage but after two days we fear the worst." No distress signal was sent and the possible cause of the accident is being investigated, he added.
Bakary said the last major plane crash in Cameroon was in 2007 when a Kenya Airways flight went down killing all 114 people on board.
-By Emmanuel Tumanjong, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 237-9655-6261, 237-7773-1930; [email protected]
DJ Sundance Seeks Permit To Exploit Cameroon Iron Ore - Official Fri Jun 18 15:24:57 2010 EDT
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (Dow Jones)--Geoff Wedlock, chairman of Australian iron ore company Sundance Resources Ltd. (SDL.AU), is leading a delegation that began negotiating with Cameroon officials Thursday for a license to start exploitation of iron ore in Mbalam, in the East Region of Cameroon, Dow Jones Newswires was told Friday.
Sundance has a 90% stake in Cameroon Iron Ore Company, or Camiron SA, which owns 1,800 square kilometers of fields with estimated reserves of 2.2 million tons of combined inferred mineral resource of enriched itabirite and direct-shipping-quality hematite.
The delegation met with Badel Ndanga Ndinga, Cameroon's Minister of Industries, Mining and Technological Development on Thursday, an official of that ministry told Dow Jones Friday.
"Sundance has completed its feasibility studies, as well as the social and environmental impact studies. The company has already completed its request for a mining permit, which must be validated by the government before approved by the head of state. Right now it wants to get the exploitation permit in order to start drilling proper," said the mining official, who requested anonymity.
According to Sundance, the project will cost $3.3 billion. The company said Cameroon stands to collect $5 billion in taxes from the project over its 25-year lifespan. Production could start by 2012 or earlier, and Sundance aims to export an estimated 35-40 million metric tons of iron ore yearly.
-By Emmanuel Tumanjong, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 237-9655-6261, 237-7773-1930 ; [email protected]
SDL Price at posting:
13.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
