late release

By Emmanuel Tumanjong

Special to DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (Dow Jones)--Cam Iron S.A., Cameroon's partner to Australia's iron firm, Sundance Resources Ltd. (SDL.AU) has officially requested a permit from the Cameroon government to start drilling for the mineral, a senior Cameroon government official told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.

The application covers the iron ore it has prospected in Mbalam, a senior official in Cameroon's Ministry of Industries, Mines and Technological Development told Dow Jones.

The request lodged Friday comes after Cam Iron S.A. completed its feasibility studies on the $3.3 billion iron mining project in Mbalam, in south eastern of Cameroon, the official said, who declined to be named.

Sundance Resources owns 100% of Cameroon Iron Co., which itself owns 90% of the Mbalam iron ore deposit, considered to be one biggest in Africa.

According to the company, a combined total of Inferred Mineral Resource of 2.2 billion metric tons of enriched itabirite and Direct Shipping Ore, or DSO, quality hematite are found in eastern Cameroon.

Cam Iron and the Cameroon government have been in protracted negotiations to redefine a memorandum of understanding for the project, following the company's search for tax cuts and investment incentives to make the project economically viable and internationally competitive.

Production could begin by 2012 or earlier, if the Cameroon government issues the authorization by the end of this year.

Sundance Resources aims to export an estimated 35-40 million tons iron ore yearly.