• Memorial of Claim has been filed at the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC” in respect to the proceeding against the Republic of Congo.
• The Republic of Cameroon has failed in its appeal against the interim order by the Emergency Arbitrator at the ICC. The interim order, which restrains the Republic of Cameroon from granting exploitation rights over the Mbalam iron ore deposit to any party except Sundance's subsidiary, Cam Iron, remains in force.
• AustSino has withdrawn its appeal against the orders issued by the Supreme Court of Western Australia that grant pre-action discovery against AustSino and its Executive Chairman, Mr Chun Ming Ding. Sundance Resources Ltd (“Sundance” or “Company” is pleased to provide the following update regarding positive developments in the Company's international arbitration proceedings against the Republic of Congo (“Congo”, Republic of Cameroon (“Cameroon” and the Company's ongoing preaction discovery proceedings in the Supreme Court of Western Australia (“Supreme Court” against AustSino Resources Group Ltd (“AustSino” and its Executive Chairman, Mr Chun Ming Ding (“Mr Ding”.
As previously announced, these proceedings concern the Company's Mbalam-Nabeba Iron Ore Project (“Mbalam-Nabeba” or “Project” which, for more than a decade up until the illegal expropriation of its Nabeba permit in Congo in late 2020, Sundance was working on developing into a globally significant, high-grade iron ore project producing direct-shipping ores grading >62.0% Fe at a rate of 40Mtpa for at least 29 years. Mbalam-Nabeba was structured as a two-stage development to generate significant economic benefits for the people of Cameroon and Congo and substantial, sustained value for Sundance shareholders. Sundance completed a Definitive Feasibility Study for Stage 1 and a Pre-Feasibility Study for Stage 2 on a 580km railway linking the mines at Mbalam in Cameroon and Nabeba in Congo to a dedicated export terminal in the deep-water Port of Kribi, Cameroon. Sundance’s pre-development investment of approximately $A400 million made Mbalam-Nabeba the most advanced iron ore project in Cameroon and Congo and positioned it as the enabler for the development of other iron ore deposits in the two countries.
International arbitration against Congo As previously announced, following the 30 November 2020 unlawful expropriation by Congo of the exploitation permit for the Nabeba iron ore tenement held by Sundance's subsidiary Congo Iron SA (“Congo Iron”, Congo Iron commenced arbitration against Congo at the ICC under the Nabeba Convention on 25 March 2021, seeking damages for breach of various provisions of the Nabeba Convention including the guarantee against expropriation. Subsequently, on 28 June 2021, Sundance (in its capacity as a beneficiary of certain guarantees under the Nabeba Convention) also commenced arbitration against Congo. Sundance brought this claim following the announcement by Congo that it had granted a mining convention to Sangha Page | 2 Mining Development SASU ("Sangha") in relation to the Nabeba tenement. The Sundance and Congo Iron claims against Congo have now been consolidated into a single arbitration. On 27 May 2022, a Memorial of Claim (“Memorial” was filed at the ICC. The Memorial included:
• Factual background to the Project and the dispute;
• A detailed statement of the legal basis for each claim brought against Congo; • A number of witness statements; and
• Reports from several independent experts covering the value of the Mbalam Nabeba Iron Ore Project and demonstrating damages ranging from $US1.5B to $US5.7B, depending on the iron ore price used.
in respect to the proceeding against the Republic of Congo.
