YAOUNDE, Cameroon (Dow Jones)--Cam Iron SA, Cameroon's partner...

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (Dow Jones)--Cam Iron SA, Cameroon's partner to Australia's Sundance Resources Ltd. (SDL.AU), have reached an agreement with the Cameroon government to redefine tax concessions and incentives.
The Framework Agreement will ease the company's completion of feasibility studies and ensure a speedy start to the huge iron ore production, a statement published Wednesday in the state-run daily Cameroon Tribune said.
Work to start the $3.3 billion Mbalam iron ore project in eastern Cameroon has been hampered as there has been no concrete agreement between both parties on applicable Cameroon tax laws.
Sundance Resources Chairman George Jones had in November this year criticized Cameroon investment laws and royalties relating to the project as being extraordinarily high, and could possibly render because the iron less competitive on the world market.
"The agreement provides the mechanism for Cam Iron and the government (of Cameroon) to go forward in 2009 to define the investment incentives and tax concessions applicable for the project, consistent with the Cameroon Investment Charter. These incentives are essential to ensure that the project is both economically viable and internationally competitive," said the statement, issued by Cam Iron General Manager Roger Bogne.
Sundance Resources owns 100% of Cam Iron, which itself owns 90% of the Mbalam project.
With production to start by 2011, Sundance Resources aims to export an estimated 35 million metric tons a year by 2011. Cameroon could feature among the world's 10 top iron ore producers, ranking second in the African continent, added the Cam Iron statement.