10 Years ago today. Very Sad and as a shareholder of over 12 years, i have a "lost", what is for me, a lot of money. But for the Sundance families of these people, they lost a hell of a lot more, so my losses pale into insignificance. These were good people, trying to build a company and i sometimes think we forget what this company went through. Anyway, we move on and hopefully a lasting legacy can be created by the current Sundance team for these people that were taken too soon and it does not disintegrate into nothing. What a further insult to their memories that would be. Sorry i couldn't just add a link to the article.
A decade on from tragic loss of Sundance Resources board in tragic jungle crash in Republic of CongoStuart McKinnonThe West AustralianFriday, 19 June 2020 7:19AMStuart McKinnonWreckage of the plane that crashed killing all onboard in thick jungle 30km from Yangadou. Credit: -/AFPIt was an incident that shook the WA mining fraternity to its core.Ten years ago today, the entire board of central African iron ore play Sundance Resources was killed when their plane crashed in dense jungle while flying from the Cameroon capital Yaounde to Yangadou in the Republic of Congn board the chartered twin turboprop CASA C212 were Queensland-based mining magnate and Sundance non-executive director Ken Talbot, chairman Geoff Wedlock, chief executive Don Lewis, company secretary John Carr-Gregg and non-executive directors John Jones and Craig Oliver.The other passengers were Natasha Flason, a French woman based in Brisbane, who worked for Mr Talbot’s private investment company the Talbot Group; American Jeff Duff from Dynamiq, who was working as a consultant to Sundance; London investment banker James Cassley; and the two pilots, one from France and the other from Britain.The mining camp at Mbalam in Cameroon. Credit: Sundance ResourcesWe are live. Tune in.At the time, Sundance was in the middle of a definitive feasibility study for its ambitious $US3.3 billion Mbalam-Nabeba iron ore project, which straddles the border of Cameroon and Congo.The Sundance team was to visit the project and conduct high-level meetings with various government representatives of both countries. However, this was not to be.Due to the low-quality airstrip in Yangadou in Congo, the board members were forced to breach protocols and travel together.The plane crashed near the town of Avima in Congo, close to the border with **on.Ken Talbot Credit: Ian Ferguson/WA NewsJohn Carr-Gregg Credit: Sundance ResourcesLast radio contact took place about 38 minutes into the 67-minute flight.The aircraft was then declared missing and was located two days later in mountainous terrain covered by jungle.THE RESPONSEJust months before the crash, Sundance’s chairman George Jones stepped down due to ill health.But with the sudden and complete absence of leadership at the company, the WA mining veteran was flung back into the hot seat to deal with the aftermath of the crash and help steer the company through the crisis.Recounting the harrowing time, Mr Jones this week described the crash as a significant event in his life and said he still reflected upon it regularly. “It was sad. All of those people who were killed, I knew them very well,” he said.“Some of them were very good friends. I had appointed them all.”Mr Jones said with a complete vacuum of leadership, Sundance would have fallen into administration, so he felt he had no option but to take over the reins.President of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso pays his respects to the victims of the Sundance plane crash.He, along with then Sundance chief geologist Rob Longley and Peter Canterbury, who was the company’s chief financial officer at the time, co-ordinated the search-and- recovery mission for the missing plane.“I honestly thought we’d never find them but we found them within a week,” Mr Jones said.“Flying over the top of that area is like looking down on a big bunch of broccoli, you can’t see the ground.“I’ve flown over this country and I’d always thought if we ever went down here, they’d never find us.”Mr Jones said he didn’t get any sleep for four days after the crash because of the demands of media, the families and the need to continue running a company that was effectively rudderless.“Dealing with the families was extraordinarily traumatic, they’re the memories that have stuck with me,” he said.“I’ve been through some tough times, but I found that as tough as anything I have ever done.”Don Lewis Credit: SuppliedCraig Oliver Credit: FacebookBut through all the emotional turmoil of co-ordinating the search, retrieving the bodies and dealing with grieving loved ones, Mr Jones managed to appoint a new board and get Sundance back on the ASX boards within a month.The company also resumed drilling and exploration activities at Mbalam-Nabeba as well as talks with potential project partners.“Would I have done anything differently? I don’t know what I could have done differently,” Mr Jones said.THE CHALLENGESMr Canterbury, who joined Sundance as the company’s chief financial officer in 2007, said the immediate priority for the three men after the crash was finding the plane, extracting and identifying the bodies, and returning them to their families.“Their request to us was, ‘Just make sure you find them and you get them back to us’,” he said.“We were able to achieve that, although in tragic circumstances, but it did give some comfort to the people who had lost their loved ones.”John Jones Credit: Fiona Harding/FairFaxJeff Duff Credit: Unknown/SuppliedMr Canterbury also recalls the challenges of trying to keep the ASX-listed Sundance running as a company.“The Corporations Act didn’t really cope with a company that didn’t have any directors,” he said.“So we had to go through a legal quagmire to deal with that.”It was also important to reassure the governments and stakeholders in Cameroon and Congo that the company would continue with the project.“It was an incredibly difficult time, but it wasn’t really about us,” Mr Canterbury said.“It was the loss sustained by people, and trying to build the project up in their memory.“Whilst it’s not in operation at this point, the project still exists and hopefully one day it will be built.”THE PROJECTSundance, now led by Giulio Casello who took over the reins from Mr Canterbury in 2010, envisages Mbalam-Nabeba as a high-grade project producing 40 million tonnes of direct shipping ore a year for an initial 12 years.The operation would be based on blending material sourced from the deposits in the neighbouring countries of Cameroon and Congo.James Cassley Credit: SuppliedNatasha Flason Credit: Unknown/FacebookIt would also involve the construction of a 510km rail line dedicated to the transport of the ore to the Cameroon port of Lolabe for export.A dedicated mineral export terminal designed for taking bulk iron ore carriers of up to 300,000 tonnes would also need to be built.Mr Jones described Mbalam-Nabeba as “a great project”.“I always thought it would be developed, but probably not for another 50 years,” he said.“China will develop it, they will end up owning it.”Sundance has had several false starts in its ongoing efforts to secure a funding partner for the multi-billion dollar project.A picture recovered from the crash site. Credit: SuppliedAt one stage it was the subject of a $1.4 billion takeover bid by China’s Hanlong.But the tilt collapsed in 2013 after founder Liu Han was arrested by Beijing authorities on charges of racketeering, and two of Hanlong’s most senior Australian executives were jailed for insider trading.The company continues to be beset by disappointments, most recently when the Chinese-backed AustSino Resources was unable to complete a proposed funding deal for Mbalam-Nabeba.THE MEMORYFriends, colleagues and families of those killed in the crash will gather at the Bali memorial in Kings Park at first light this morning and meet again for a separate function at the weekend.Mr Canterbury said a group of former Sundance personnel were reconnecting with the families of those lost as part of the 10-year anniversary of the crash.“It’s been a tragedy for them but most of them are in good places now, but it will be an incredibly sad event for them on Friday,” he said.Geoff Wedlock Credit: Erin Jonasson/FairfaxThe group is also trying to create a permanent memorial for their fallen colleagues at Kings Park.“They were very impressive people who lost their lives trying to develop a mining asset,” Mr Canterbury said.“They were still the best people I have ever worked with and I deeply miss them.“But my loss was inconsequential compared with the families that had to deal with it.“Really it’s about building the memory of these people rather than focusing on the loss.”
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n board the chartered twin turboprop CASA C212 were Queensland-based mining magnate and Sundance non-executive director Ken Talbot, chairman Geoff Wedlock, chief executive Don Lewis, company secretary John Carr-Gregg and non-executive directors John Jones and Craig Oliver.The other passengers were Natasha Flason, a French woman based in Brisbane, who worked for Mr Talbot’s private investment company the Talbot Group; American Jeff Duff from Dynamiq, who was working as a consultant to Sundance; London investment banker James Cassley; and the two pilots, one from France and the other from Britain.The mining camp at Mbalam in Cameroon. Credit: Sundance ResourcesWe are live. Tune in.At the time, Sundance was in the middle of a definitive feasibility study for its ambitious $US3.3 billion Mbalam-Nabeba iron ore project, which straddles the border of Cameroon and Congo.The Sundance team was to visit the project and conduct high-level meetings with various government representatives of both countries. However, this was not to be.Due to the low-quality airstrip in Yangadou in Congo, the board members were forced to breach protocols and travel together.The plane crashed near the town of Avima in Congo, close to the border with **on.Ken Talbot Credit: Ian Ferguson/WA NewsJohn Carr-Gregg Credit: Sundance ResourcesLast radio contact took place about 38 minutes into the 67-minute flight.The aircraft was then declared missing and was located two days later in mountainous terrain covered by jungle.THE RESPONSEJust months before the crash, Sundance’s chairman George Jones stepped down due to ill health.But with the sudden and complete absence of leadership at the company, the WA mining veteran was flung back into the hot seat to deal with the aftermath of the crash and help steer the company through the crisis.Recounting the harrowing time, Mr Jones this week described the crash as a significant event in his life and said he still reflected upon it regularly. “It was sad. All of those people who were killed, I knew them very well,” he said.“Some of them were very good friends. I had appointed them all.”Mr Jones said with a complete vacuum of leadership, Sundance would have fallen into administration, so he felt he had no option but to take over the reins.President of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso pays his respects to the victims of the Sundance plane crash.He, along with then Sundance chief geologist Rob Longley and Peter Canterbury, who was the company’s chief financial officer at the time, co-ordinated the search-and- recovery mission for the missing plane.“I honestly thought we’d never find them but we found them within a week,” Mr Jones said.“Flying over the top of that area is like looking down on a big bunch of broccoli, you can’t see the ground.“I’ve flown over this country and I’d always thought if we ever went down here, they’d never find us.”Mr Jones said he didn’t get any sleep for four days after the crash because of the demands of media, the families and the need to continue running a company that was effectively rudderless.“Dealing with the families was extraordinarily traumatic, they’re the memories that have stuck with me,” he said.“I’ve been through some tough times, but I found that as tough as anything I have ever done.”Don Lewis Credit: SuppliedCraig Oliver Credit: FacebookBut through all the emotional turmoil of co-ordinating the search, retrieving the bodies and dealing with grieving loved ones, Mr Jones managed to appoint a new board and get Sundance back on the ASX boards within a month.The company also resumed drilling and exploration activities at Mbalam-Nabeba as well as talks with potential project partners.“Would I have done anything differently? I don’t know what I could have done differently,” Mr Jones said.THE CHALLENGESMr Canterbury, who joined Sundance as the company’s chief financial officer in 2007, said the immediate priority for the three men after the crash was finding the plane, extracting and identifying the bodies, and returning them to their families.“Their request to us was, ‘Just make sure you find them and you get them back to us’,” he said.“We were able to achieve that, although in tragic circumstances, but it did give some comfort to the people who had lost their loved ones.”John Jones Credit: Fiona Harding/FairFaxJeff Duff Credit: Unknown/SuppliedMr Canterbury also recalls the challenges of trying to keep the ASX-listed Sundance running as a company.“The Corporations Act didn’t really cope with a company that didn’t have any directors,” he said.“So we had to go through a legal quagmire to deal with that.”It was also important to reassure the governments and stakeholders in Cameroon and Congo that the company would continue with the project.“It was an incredibly difficult time, but it wasn’t really about us,” Mr Canterbury said.“It was the loss sustained by people, and trying to build the project up in their memory.“Whilst it’s not in operation at this point, the project still exists and hopefully one day it will be built.”THE PROJECTSundance, now led by Giulio Casello who took over the reins from Mr Canterbury in 2010, envisages Mbalam-Nabeba as a high-grade project producing 40 million tonnes of direct shipping ore a year for an initial 12 years.The operation would be based on blending material sourced from the deposits in the neighbouring countries of Cameroon and Congo.James Cassley Credit: SuppliedNatasha Flason Credit: Unknown/FacebookIt would also involve the construction of a 510km rail line dedicated to the transport of the ore to the Cameroon port of Lolabe for export.A dedicated mineral export terminal designed for taking bulk iron ore carriers of up to 300,000 tonnes would also need to be built.Mr Jones described Mbalam-Nabeba as “a great project”.“I always thought it would be developed, but probably not for another 50 years,” he said.“China will develop it, they will end up owning it.”Sundance has had several false starts in its ongoing efforts to secure a funding partner for the multi-billion dollar project.A picture recovered from the crash site. Credit: SuppliedAt one stage it was the subject of a $1.4 billion takeover bid by China’s Hanlong.But the tilt collapsed in 2013 after founder Liu Han was arrested by Beijing authorities on charges of racketeering, and two of Hanlong’s most senior Australian executives were jailed for insider trading.The company continues to be beset by disappointments, most recently when the Chinese-backed AustSino Resources was unable to complete a proposed funding deal for Mbalam-Nabeba.THE MEMORYFriends, colleagues and families of those killed in the crash will gather at the Bali memorial in Kings Park at first light this morning and meet again for a separate function at the weekend.Mr Canterbury said a group of former Sundance personnel were reconnecting with the families of those lost as part of the 10-year anniversary of the crash.“It’s been a tragedy for them but most of them are in good places now, but it will be an incredibly sad event for them on Friday,” he said.Geoff Wedlock Credit: Erin Jonasson/FairfaxThe group is also trying to create a permanent memorial for their fallen colleagues at Kings Park.“They were very impressive people who lost their lives trying to develop a mining asset,” Mr Canterbury said.“They were still the best people I have ever worked with and I deeply miss them.“But my loss was inconsequential compared with the families that had to deal with it.“Really it’s about building the memory of these people rather than focusing on the loss.”
