not as straight forward as we thought....at least one other company and gvt problems emerging
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_20059663.shtml Marampa Companies Banned The Ministry of Mineral Resources is reported to have temporarily banned both the London Mining Company (LMC) and the African Minerals from further works at the Marampa Mines. This development, according to reports, was as a result of what senior Mines officials called "undue interference and encroachment" by officials of the LMC. Reports said the two companies will resume work pending the outcome of a visit to the mining sites by senior Mines officials in the coming days. dated 4th sept 2008
FRANK TIMIS is no stranger to controversy. Only three years ago he sparked City outrage over the near-collapse of Regal Petroleum. Now the Romanian, who has a number of drug offences behind him, is on the cusp of a legal battle in Sierra Leone over a $45m (£26m) cash and shares deal he announced to the stock exchange last week. A UK-registered mining minnow fears Timis may have sold exploration rights that did not belong to African Minerals, the AIM-listed miner he controls. Late last week London Mining filed a writ in a court in Sierra Leone seeking an injunction that would force Timis, 44, to move his workforce from two stretches of disputed land. The iron ore thought to be lying in the five square kilometres of jungle is estimated to be worth at least $2 billion. And that’s just what mining analysts describe as the “low-hanging fruit”. The deposits in the Marampa mines supplied the allied forces with much of their iron-ore requirements during the second world war and were operational until the 1970s. Timis has struck an outline agreement with the Australian miner Cape Lambert that will see him swap 30% of his company’s interest in the Marampa area for a 10% stake in Cape Lambert. London Mining fears the deal with the Australian company includes rights to the disputed territory. “London Mining invested in Sierra Leone three years ago as it was a country that had made a clear commitment to building long-term economic growth with overseas companies,” said Graeme Hossie at London Mining. “We have every confidence that this dispute can be resolved through the courts.” Just three months ago, Timis took Bob Geldof, the rock singer turned anti-poverty campaigner, to visit his operations in the west African state. Geldof was flown in Timis’s private jet to visit the project, which is linked to the redevelopment of a 75-kilometre railway and port. “If Frank is going to build a modern railway and with the port now functioning then it should be a matter of urgency to connect up with the people and agricultural exports,” Geldof said. “If it’s a deal of mutuality, I’m there.” Timis is a big fish in Sierra Leone. African Minerals used to be the Sierra Leone Diamond Company. It owns mineral exploration rights to 57% of the country’s land mass. Timis bought a 30% stake in the company in 2005 through a Bermuda-registered vehicle. London Mining has assets all over the world and recently raised $800m in cash through the sale of its Brazilian business to Arcelor Mittal. It was enticed to Sierra Leone by an investment conference held by Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) in 2005, which promised that the country was stable and would welcome foreign investment. It has told the Sierra Leone government that it would put up the cash needed to develop the railway line so it can get its operations under way. A government green light, however, has not been given. Since Geldof’s visit, Sierra Leone has been pitched into a political scandal. Last month the president suspended his transport minister in connection with a 700 kg seizure of cocaine at the country’s international airport. The minister’s brother, who is also the national football team coach, had already been arrested in connection with the seizure. Contradictory messages from government departments lie at the heart of the new dispute. Timis was granted rights to explore for minerals in the area, but London Mining alleges that his permit warned he had to steer clear of the areas they were working. The trouble is that the two sides have a different interpretation of where those boundaries lie. It is alleged that as recently as January this year, maps distributed by the Sierra Leone mining ministry backed up London’s claims to the disputed territory. That followed a formal letter sent in May 2007 confirming the co-ordinates of the site, London Mining claims. Then, about two months ago, the official version of events changed. The Sierra Leone mineral resources department has now adopted the same interpretation as African Minerals. According to local reports, Timis took the new mines minister with him on a trip to Romania. The deal between Timis and Cape already faces obstacles. Cape’s biggest shareholder is Evraz, the steel giant controlled by Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who owns Chelsea football club. Evraz sent a letter to Cape Lambert’s chairman Tony Sage hours before the deal was announced warning that it was opposed to the company getting involved in any corporate deals without its say-so. The legal wrangle could throw a further spanner in the works for Timis. A spokesman for African Minerals said the company did not want to comment on anything related to the Sierra Leone affair.
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_20059608.shtml 25 July 2008
African Minerals Limited ('African Minerals' or the 'Company') Key Engineering Projects Update
African Minerals Limited (AIM:AMI), the mineral exploration company with interests principally in Sierra Leone, West Africa, is pleased to provide the following update in respect of the key engineering projects it is undertaking in Sierra Leone.
Highlights * Company appoints RSG Global - Coffey Mining Pty Ltd ('Coffey') to undertake critical components of the definitive feasibility study for the Tonkolili Iron Ore Project
* Survey work starts on Pepel Port facilities after Government of Sierra Leone gives go-ahead in line with exclusive Memorandum of Understanding announced on 6 May 2008
* SENET commissioned to begin work on port and railway infrastructure engineering studies
* Scott Wilson Railways commissioned to carry out railway infrastructure engineering studies, including upgrade of existing Pepel to Marampa railway and extension from Marampa to Tonkolili at Standard Gauge
Tonkolili Iron Ore Project Feasibility Study
African Minerals is pleased to announce the appointment of Coffey to undertake the following components of the definitive feasibility study for the Tonkolili Iron Ore Project:
* Resource and reserve estimation
* Mine geotechnical engineering and hydrogeology
* Mining engineering
* Tailings engineering and waste dumps
* Civil engineering (mine infrastructure and process plant)
* Power source analysis
* Environmental studies
* Social impact studies
* Financial analysis
http://www.hemscott.com/news/static/rna/it...65852586293509* Begin production of 3mtpa of iron ore at the Company's Marampa tailings operation in Sierra Leone once Government approvals have been granted to use the port and railway and construction and repairs of the mine, rail and port have been completed. *http://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en/55886/London-Mining-Plc.html
and
stolen from someone else
many thanks to kathy good work kathy
Hi, I am going to quickly post some info I have been collecting, which may give an insight into the scope of interest in these areas which appear foolish at first glance. I will apologize also that these wont be quite as organised or collated as I would have liked before adding, (will be out all day/night) and new info regarding London Mining as of today. May edit tomorrow, and probably cringe when re-reading
Kathy
Early this year Cape lambert were involved in the Delta Mining deal to develop the western cluster iron ore deposits in Liberia. Delta were granted the provisional winners beating Tata steel, Arcelor Mittal and Sinosteel, anyhow since this development there has been some questioning as to how Delta,with Cape Lambert and IDC won, over the likes of Tata steel and Sinosteel,after pressure from much probing and questioning from the Government Opposition and African media outlets, the Govt have agreed to investigate changes regarding due dilligence, and are now re evaluating the decision. No outcome has been announced thus far.
28th july Cape Lambert announced shareholder approval for the sale of the cape lambert iron ore project for A$400 million Cape Lambert paid $US20 million in cash and stock options for the 408 sq km deposit in 2005
31st july Evraz announce the signing of a Co-operation Agreement with China Metallurgical Group Corporation (“MCC”) for the joint development of the Cape Lambert Iron Ore Project
Evraz has already agreed to pay $US1.5 billion for a controlling stake in another steel group, Delong Holdings , which holds an option to take about 12 per cent of Cape Lambert, Evraz has six months to obtain Beijing's approval for the takeover. Evraz has options to take a 51% stake in Singapore listed Delong, but exercising them is conditional on getting Chinese antitrust approval. The six month options were due to expire on Monday, but Evraz said it had agreed with Delong shareholder Best Decade to extend the option exercise period until February 18th 2009. It also said it had notified Chinese authorities of the planned merger, receiving acknowledgement from the State Administration of Industry and Commerce on March 3rd and the Ministry of Commerce on May 7th. Evraz in its regulatory filing said that "Subsequently, the offeror was informed by MOFCOM of an extension of the merger review process. As at the date of this announcement, MOFCOM continues to review the information and materials submitted by the offeror as part of its pre merger notification."
20th Aug Acelor Mittal bought the the Brazilian iron ore rights from London Mining for US$809.9.million Sixteen months earlier London Mining had bought the Brazilian iron ore assets for $68 million and then invested $32 million for further mine development. London Mining intends to return approximately US$427 million of theproceeds to shareholders.
3rd sept London mining announced that it is entering the South African coal market by acquiring 50.5% of DMC energy (Delta mining consolidated) for up to $120million
London Mining also have an interest in Marampa- the open cut mining operation (Development Corporation of Sierra Leone) now interestingly, the Sierra Leonne Government has as recently as August, had to re survey and demarcate the license areas of AML and LMC, due (according to AML ) to London Mining tresspassing and stealing from Aml, also Govt officials found LMC had illegally set up check points on the AML license area
Aug 31 (PTI) In a bid to feed its upcoming steel and power projects in Gujarat, Ruias-promoted Essar Group is scouting for iron ore and coal assets in Africa and South America for possible acquisition. "Our merger and acquisition team has been mandated to look for iron ore and coal assets both abroad and in India for acquisition," a company official told PTI.
Essar Group is scouting for raw material assets in Africa and South America, he said, adding, "however it is not in the race to acquire United Coal, the US-based firm that is now on the block." Since acquiring raw material assets have become dearer and a number of companies are looking for assets worldwide, he said it may take a little while to reach to a negotiation.
Increased demand for coal and iron ore has caused an unprecedented increase in the price levels of both the commodities. Iron ore prices have gone up by 400 per cent since 2004 and coaking coal prices by 500 per cent during the same period.
Essar has a 4.6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel making facility at Hazira in Gujarat. The plant does not require coal since it produces the commodity using arc furnaces.
The Group, however, has now embarked on a capacity expansion programme taking it to close to 10 mtpa in which it intends to use a combination of blast furnace, corus and arc furnace technologies almost in the same ratio. Coal would be required in blast furnace and corus technologies. PTI
On Wednesday, Arcelor said it was paying $432.5 million for the stake in Kalagadi Manganese to develop a manganese mine and smelter complex in South Africa.
ArcelorMittal said it expected the mines and smelter, situated in Northern Cape Province and Eastern Cape Province, to begin production in 2010 and to produce 2.4 million tons of manganese a year. Manganese is an important ingredient of steel, constituting up to 0.8% of multipurpose low carbon steels.
ArcelorMittal, which produces around a tenth of the world's steel, is benefiting from resilient demand for the metal, but like others in the sector it also has to deal with rising raw material costs and bottlenecks in areas such as Australia, which has kept supplies under pressure. Arcelor's response has been to make itself more self-sufficient, by recently buying a Brazilian iron ore producer and a coking coal plant in the United States (See "ArcelorMittal Digs Self-Sufficiency.") The remaining 50.0% of Kalagadi is owned by IDC, the South African state-controlled financier, and Kalahari Resources
Nippon Steel Corp, JFE Holdings Inc unit JFE Steel Corp and other major Japanese steelmakers plan to jointly acquire overseas mining rights for iron ore in an attempt to minimize the impact of surging mineral prices, the Nikkei reported at the weekend, without citing sources. Nippon Steel (other-otc: NISTF.PK - news - people ), Sumitomo Metal Industries, Kobe Steel (other-otc: KBSTY.PK - news - people ), JFE Steel and Itochu Corp will form a consortium, the business daily said. The government is working to lend a hand by providing low-interest loans through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Acquisitions will likely total around 1 trillion yen ($90.9 billion), which makes their endeavour the biggest resource-related investment by Japanese businesses so far, the report said. As a start, the consortium plans to take part in an open bid for Brazil's Nacional Minerios SA, known as Namisa, owned by major local steelmaker CSN. Its estimated annual output of slightly more than 20 million tons is equivalent to roughly 15 percent of Japan's annual iron ore imports. The partners may also buy mines in Guinea and Liberia on the West African coast to make the region a third source for iron ore after Australia and Brazil. The move came after the Japanese steelmakers accepted a 65 percent price hike for Brazilian iron ore and as high as 100 percent for Australian ore in their price negotiations for fiscal 2008, the Nikkei said.
The IDC ( www.idc.co.za) is a self-financing, South African state-owned national development finance institution that provides finance to promote industrial anhttp://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article4692393.eced entrepreneurial development. Its primary objectives are to contribute to balanced sustainable economic growth in Africa and to the economic empowerment of the South African population, thereby promoting the economic prosperity of all citizens of the African continent. The IDC identifies and funds projects in partnership withothers and focuses on promoting and investing in viable new industriesand differentiates itself through risktaking and flexibility in structuring, particularly in promotion of BEE, SMEs, regional investment diversification and job creation.
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