21 Feb...

21 Feb 2014

http://direct.economie.jeuneafrique.com/regions/afrique-subsaharienne/21456-sundance-lorgne-belinga-eco.html

Gabon : Sundance eyeing Belinga iron

Belinga iron , with reserves estimated at one billion tonnes, arouses desires . Among the interested mining groups include the Australian junior Sundance Resources which operates the Congo- Cameroon project Mbalam - Nabela ... 80 kilometers Gabonese deposit.

Given the mining project Mbalam - Nabeba located between Cameroon and Congo , the mineral deposit Belinga , Gabon , is only a stone's throw : two projects in the same area , are separated by administrative boundaries. And Australian mining junior Sundance Resources ,which operates the first draft , does not hide his appetite for resources Belinga iron , estimated at over a billion tonnes.

"Our future Congolese Nabeba mine is only 80 km from Belinga says Giulio Casello , the CEO of Sundance Resources. When we built the railway [ needed to transport ore ] , it would be logical that the Belinga iron passes our infrastructure, through Cameroon to the port of Lolabé . "

competitors

The deposit, where the activity was stoped of nearly six years , returned to the bosom of the State of Gabon in December , when the country has recovered 75 % stake in the
mining company Belinga ( Comibel ) held by China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC ) and Pangang Group.

However, the Australian junior is not the only interest in Belinga , industry giants such as Vale of Brazil and Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton are also on the lookout .

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February 17, 2014

Bloomberg News

Gabon Still Seeking Partner to Exploit Belinga Iron-Ore Deposit
By Editors: John Viljoen February 17, 2014

Gabon is still looking for a partner to help the West African nation develop the Belinga iron-ore deposit, after ending an agreement with a Chinese company in December, according to Minister of Mines Regis Immongault.

“The new ambition of President Ali Bongo Ondimba is to develop the mining sector,” Immongault told reporters today in Libreville, the capital. The National Agency for Major Works is starting to select a port to export Belinga’s ore, he said.

Gabon said in December it would reimburse about $36 million to China Machinery Engineering Corp. after canceling an agreement with the Beijing-based company to develop Belinga over a lack of progress. China Machinery had estimated the project could produce 30 million metric tons of the steelmaking raw material each year.

China Machinery said in 2009 that it had signed a 25-year contract to build and operate the mine, near Gabon’s northeastern border with the Republic of Congo. As part of the accord, the company said it would build a 500-kilometer (310-mile) railway, a port and a hydropower station.

In early 2012, Gabon said it was close to handing the project to BHP Billiton (BHP) Ltd. for development. Gabon state media reported in March that the Melbourne-based company was set to halt operations in the country.

Development of Belinga has previously been opposed by environmentalists because the deposit lies within Gabon’s Ivindo National Park, a rain forest that is home to elephants, western lowland gorillas and chimpanzees.

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30th August 2012

https://www.africadownunderconference.com/resources/Gabons-Belinga-iron-ore-deal-to-be-awarded-as-late-as-2014---30.8.2012---Mining-Weekly.pdf

Gabon's Belinga iron ore deal to be awarded as late as 2014
By: Reuters
Published: 30th August 2012
PERTH

Gabon may not award its Belinga concession before 2014, a government Minister said on Thursday, after the African
country opted to reassess how much iron ore the deposit contains, in the latest in a series of delays to plague the project.

China's CMEC, which had secured rights to Belinga with a 2007 deal, lost the concession following concerns about the environmental impact of the project and then over whether CMEC would be able to deliver.

"One of the commitments was for the Chinese to work as rapidly as possible and to get into production. Unfortunately, the Chinese did not meet the expectations of the government,"

Regis Immongault , the Minister of Industry and Mines told Reuters at a mining industry conference in Perth, Australia.
"Now the government has decided to do an additional evaluation of the resources of this deposit ... with the objective of having a precise idea of the resource."
The government evaluation of the iron ore deposit may take up to 18 months or by 2014, Immongault said, but added that it could be done as early as next year.
In February, a government official had told Reuters that the Belinga concession had been awarded to BHP Billiton, but BHP declined to comment.

Immongault, however, said the concession would only be awarded after the reassessment of the iron ore deposit.
"After this evaluation, we will have a round table with the interest ed partners to see how we can go ahead with the development phase of the project, and the Chinese will
be part of this round table," Immongault said.
"The desire of the head of state is to have a good partner to permit so this [iron ore] deposit can be de
veloped in the correct way."

Gabon is evaluating tenders from consultants for the assessment of the iron ore deposit, he said.

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Nov 29, 2012

http://www.voltamining.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/2012-11-29_Reuters_Several-eyes-on-Belinga-iron-ore-minister.pdf

Several eyes on Gabon's Belinga iron ore: minister

By Harpreet Bhal | Reuters – Thu, Nov 29, 2012

LONDON (Reuters) - Gabon's Belinga iron ore project has attracted interest from several parties and a concession is likely to be awarded once an assessment of the deposit
is completed in 2014, a government minister said.

"For the time being we know that a lot of companies are in
terested, but until we have finalised the studies we are not
looking for new people at the moment," Regis Immongault, minister of industry and mines, told Reuters in an interview.

The Belinga project, like other iron ore developments in West Africa, have huge potential but most face political uncertainty and significant infrastructure hurdles.
Belinga could be a significant economic boost for Gabon as it tries to boost exporting industries and diversify away from oil,but has faced a series of delays and setbacks.
Most significantly, China's CMEC, which had secured rights to Belinga with a 2007 deal, lost the concession following
concerns about the project's environmental impact and the company's ability to deliver.

In February, a government official to ld Reuters that the Belinga concession had been awarded to mining group BHP
Billiton, but BHP subsequently declined comment on
this suggestion.

Immongault declined comment on whether BHP or CMEC coul
d still be in the running for the concession, saying the
government was not ruling anything out at the moment.
IRON ORE PRICES

Meanwhile, in a move that cast a shadow over Belinga and other West African iron ore projects, Brazil's Vale last month put its giant Simandou iron ore project in Guinea
on hold due to falling iron ore prices.
Iron ore is forecast to average $120 per tonne in 2013, dow
n from an estimated $126 this year as China's crude steel
production growth weakens, a Reuters poll has showed.
"Iron ore prices are not going to compromise the Belinga pr
oject and we are going ahead with that and building the
infrastructure," Immongault said.

"What we want to do in Belinga ... is have part of the ir
on ore processed in Gabon itself and this will help stimulate industrial production locally."
Gabon has not, however, put any value on t
he amount of iron ore contained in Belinga.

Immongault said Gabon also planned to in crease its manganese production to 5.7 million tonnes
by 2015 from around 3.7 million tonnes currently, driven by a ramp-up in production from Eramet's Compagnie Mini
ere de l'Ogooue (Comilog) and other smaller projects.
Gabon is the world's second-largest producer of manganese, a steel-making ingredient, after South Africa.

Immongault said Eramet is building a processing plant in
Gabon for manganese and silico manganese, with as much as
85,000 tonnes of refined output planned from 2014 onwards.
He said the country also plans to develop its rare earths, phosphate, niobium and tantalum reserves in Maboumine as part of plans to diversify the economy away from oil, with
a pilot factory scheduled to begin production in 2015

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Jan 30, 2012

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-30/gabon-says-bhp-close-to-winning-belinga-iron-ore-deposit-rights.html

Gabon Says BHP Close to Winning Belinga Iron-Ore Deposit Rights
By Antoine Lawson, Jesse Riseborough and Michelle Yun, Jan 30, 2012

Gabon is close to removing control of its largest iron ore project from China Machinery Engineering Corp (CMECEZ). and awarding it to BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), said an official from the African country’s mining ministry.

Gabonese officials including Mines and Oil Minister Alexandre Barro Chambrier will meet executives of Melbourne- based BHP in Cape Town early next month to complete the deal, Michel Edzang, an official at the Mining Department and adviser to the minister, said in an interview in Libreville. A spokesman for BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, declined to comment.

The West African nation started a review in 2010 of Belinga after a consultant to the government said progress developing the mine had been slow. China Machinery, which had estimated Belinga could produce 30 million metric tons of the steel-making raw material a year at a cost of about $3.5 billion, said it remained in talks on the venture.

“We’re still discussing with the Gabon government on how to solve the problems,” Cai Ning, manager of China Machinery’s engineering department, said today by phone from Beijing. “We’re waiting for their reply. We didn’t say we’re withdrawing and the project is still ongoing.”

China has strengthened ties with Africa as it seeks to secure access to the continent’s raw materials. Export-Import Bank of China loaned about $67.2 billion to sub-Saharan African nations in the past decade, according to a Fitch Ratings report in December.
BHP Diversifying

A move into Gabon would mark a shift by BHP toward diversifying its production of iron ore, which is dominated by output from mines in Western Australia. Iron ore contributed 29 percent of BHP’s $71 billion in sales for the 2011 fiscal year.

The mining company may partner with India’s Abhijeet Infrastructure Ltd. in the Belinga project, which requires the construction of a railway, Edzang said in the Jan. 26 meeting. BHP is expected to start production from its manganese mine in Gabon this quarter, he said. Manoj Jayaswal, chairman of Nagpur, India-based Abhijeet Group, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Minister Barro Chambrier said Jan. 14 on Radio Television Gabonaise there were “accelerated discussions” on the exploitation of Belinga, in the northeast of the country. He didn’t name the parties the government was in talks with.

“The Gabon government didn’t fulfill its part, hindering the project and making it unable to move forward,” China Machinery’s Cai said. “The truth is, we have been working on the project because the Chinese government gives high priority to this project.”
Legal Obstacle

Without the Gabon government’s approvals, China Machinery lacks the legal right to proceed, Cai said.

China Machinery said in 2009 that it had signed a 25-year contract to build and operate the mine, near Gabon’s border with the Republic of Congo. As part of the accord, the Beijing-based company said it would build a 500-kilometer (310-mile) railway, a port and a hydropower station. China Machinery signed an initial agreement on Belinga in September 2006, according to its website.

Development has previously been opposed by environmentalists because Belinga lies within Gabon’s Ivindo National Park, a rain forest that is home to elephants, western lowland gorillas and chimpanzees.

To contact the reporters on this story: Antoine Lawson in Libreville at [email protected]; Jesse Riseborough in London at [email protected]; Michelle Yun in Hong Kong at [email protected]