jones speaks

Hi All

Not sure if this has already been posted but received it last night:

24/08/2011 Sundance Resources unlikely to have to resort to shareholders to fund Mbalam - chairman

Sundance Resources [SDL:AU] is confident that its search for a joint venture partner for its USD 4.7bn Mbalam iron ore project will materialize very soon, Chairman George Jones told dealReporter.

?The requirement for us to abandon all these negotiations and go back and raise money in the market ? there?s a very low chance of that being necessary,? Jones said. ?I expect Sundance will merge with a joint venture partner, be it Hanlong or someone else, over the couple months ahead.?

This comes after some fund managers recently expressed concern that Sundance may have to resort to shareholders for capital, especially after coal miner Bandanna Energy [BND:AU] was forced to go this route after its much anticipated sale failed to materialize. Bandanna, however, has yet to officially call off the process.

Although Sundance is not opposed to the proposal from China?s Hanlong Mining, the companies are still working to fill a price gap, a process which is running concurrently with the joint venture partner search and the finalization of mining conventions with the governments of the Republics of Cameroon and Congo.

Sundance is still aiming to have the mining conventions to be in place by the end of September, Jones said. ?We have no reason to believe that that is not achievable,? he added.

Meanwhile, timing details of the joint venture partner search and the concurrent negotiations with Hanlong remain fluid, but Jones indicated that they could conclude by Christmas.

Recent media reports have suggested that Sundance would like to see Hanlong?s AUD 0.50 per share proposal sweetened by around AUD 0.10. This would amount to an approximately 30% premium over Sundance?s closing price of AUD 0.455 on Wednesday.

As reported, the Sichuan-based company has already lodged a preliminary notification with China?s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for a Sundance bid, which has indicated its support for the proposal. In addition to approval by Australia?s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), which is not expected to be a major issue, a deal will also be subject to procedural clearances by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).