Mbalam-Nabeba mining project: questions about the credibility of...

Mbalam-Nabeba mining project: questions about the credibility of Bestway and AustSinoWhile the project is on the right track, gray points remain on the capacities of the future operators of this deposit. Both for Bestway, presented as a novice in the field, and for AustSino, whose contract has already been terminated on this same project due to its inability to meet its investment commitments. Cedrick JIONGO To send an email3 weeks agoLast updated: July 23, 20212,586 3 minutes to readFacebook Twitter Linkedin Tumblr Pinterest Reddit VKontakte Odnoklassniki Pocket Alexandre Mbiam, Ceo, Bestway Finance Limited5,500 billion FCFA. The volume of investment necessary for the construction of the railway connecting Mbalam to the port of Kribi and the mineral terminal, could almost make you dizzy. However, the Bestway Finance Ltd (BFL) and AutSino Resources Group Ltd (ASN) consortium says it is ready to finance the project for work to start this year. The announcement was made on June 25 in Yaoundé during the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the State of Cameroon and the two partners. During the very popular ceremony, Alexandre Mbiam, Chief Executive Officer of Bestway Finance Ltd will eloquently unveil the benefits of this railway line which should generate nearly 20,000 direct jobs,The signing of this MoU is more for the Cameroonian authorities, a desire to benefit from the benefits of this mining site which is certainly rich, but whose exploitation has dragged on for ten years. For his part, Paul Biya is more driven by the desire to jointly exploit with the Congo the mining deposits which conceal the Kratonb of Kasai, torn between the two neighboring countries. Denis Sassou Nguesso's country has already granted Sangha Mining, a subsidiary of BFL, the operating license on its counterpart. In order to reach an agreement as quickly as possible, Paul Biya asked the Minister of Mines to continue with the due diligence leading to the mining agreement as well as the submission to his appreciation of the request for the operating permit.

While the project seems to be on the right track,Bestway finance LTD"The consortium is made up of some of the largest Chinese groups in the fields of construction of mineral ports, railways, mines, steelworks and iron marketing." Called to give more details on the company of which he is the CEO, will say no more. This company, little known to Cameroonians, does not, strictly speaking, hold any feats of arms in mining throughout the world. Based in Hong Kong, it was only incorporated on June 23, 2020 as a private company limited by shares. However, this novice succeeded in a short period of time to beat the pawn to the mining giants that are Avima Iron Ore and Sundance Resources in Central Africa. On March 13, 2021 Sangha Mining, its Congolese subsidiary, obtained from the Congolese State three mining titles for the exploitation of iron, all in the operational phase, in the towns of Badondo, Avima and Nabemba. While positioning itself in Cameroon, BFL has formed a consortium made up of large Chinese mining investors.
This brings together companies from the Middle Kingdom such as China Railway Construction Corporation, Baowu, Yantian Port Holding, Shanghai Tsingshan Minerals, Metallurgical Corporation of China and China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC). “The financing is done 100% by the commercial partners, by the members of the consortium” moreover boasted Alexandre Mbiam. This brings together companies from the Middle Kingdom such as China Railway Construction Corporation, Baowu, Yantian Port Holding, Shanghai Tsingshan Minerals, Metallurgical Corporation of China and China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC). “The financing is done 100% by the commercial partners, by the members of the consortium” moreover boasted Alexandre Mbiam.
This brings together companies from the Middle Kingdom such as China Railway Construction Corporation, Baowu, Yantian Port Holding, Shanghai Tsingshan Minerals, Metallurgical Corporation of China and China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC). “The financing is done 100% by the commercial partners, by the members of the consortium” moreover boasted Alexandre Mbiam.This Chinese offensive on the mining project is more due to the rise in iron prices on international markets. At the end of June, a tonne of iron ore hit a record cost of $ 202.65 on the London Metal Exchange (LME), a first according to the benchmark index compiled by S&P Platts since 2008. According to analysts at Deutsche Bank, this uptrend is not about to tumble in the next 5 years. Now is the time to invest in it given the fact that a fall in prices could seriously impact the feasibility of the project.AustSinoIf everything is on the right track, one of the doubts lies on the financing capacity of the Australian company AutSino Resources Group Ltd (ANS) given its liabilities in the same case. In fact, in 2020, the company signed an agreement with Sundance (then holders of the operating license) for the acquisition of its majority shares ($ 58.250 million, or approximately CFAF 34 billion). This agreement was intended to provide Sundance with the financial strength necessary to advance the development of Mbalam-Nabeba. Except that to mobilize the funds, AustSino had for its part concluded a financing agreement with Midwest Resource Finance Group, a private Australian company which then had to subscribe to 7.6 billion Austino shares at an issue price to raise 100 million dollars, or about 55.2 billion FCFA. The proceeds from this purchase would have been used to finance AustSino's commitments to its agreement with Sundance. Unfortunately, the operation could not be held mortgaging the agreement between the two companies. Sundance will even grant a moratorium to its partner who will still fail to raise funds. This will lead to the termination of the contract in November 2020. Delisted from the Australian Stock Exchange in December 2020, the company only owns one mining asset in Australia.To date, it still relies on subscriptions from Midwest to make its share of the contribution to this project; which subscriptions were postponed to December 31 of this year.