Hi (Westcott),It could be interesting to see the outcome of...

Hi (Westcott),

It could be interesting to see the outcome of this, from what I know, Belinga hosts a high grade iron ore deposits, around 1Bt @ 60% Fe, but I'm sure that you have better detail figures on their deposit...

IMO, SDL is best fit with Belinga, as part of the CEMAC PER program strategy, to have a common rail and port infrastructure for optimisation of cost reduction and minimse the impact of environment, especially what they called the "Green Gabon", doing so will benefit the whole economy of the region.

A recall of CEMAC = Central African Economic and Monetary Community

CEMAC similar to the Euro zone..

CEMAC (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa) is a regional organization. It was Founded in 1993 to replace the former Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa (UDEAC) of 1964. The organization is based in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic.

Six Countries in Western Central Africa are members of CEMAC: Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, and Equatorial Guinea. More than 35 million people live in the CEMAC member states.

CEMAC is part of the CFA Zone, where all of the member states are Francophone countries,with the exception of Equatorial Guinea, where the state is spoken Spanish. The CEMAC region is rich in mineral resources, with oil and gas exports accounting for 80 per Almost one hundred of the region's exports.

The Vision 2025 of the CEMAC:
The Regional Economic Programme (PER) is the response of the CEMAC, to put countries out of the pack of the poors and moving towards the economic emergence.

The vision is to "make the CEMAC in 2025 an integrated economic space emerging property where taking a stand in security, solidarity and good governance, human development".

The PER (Regional Economic Program) 2025 enable the redesign of the planning of CEMAC, with the emergence of six major regional economic centers:

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The agenda for the emergence

The components of PER CEMAC Phase 1 (2010-2015)
PER CEMAC Phase 1 (2010-2015) represents a specific set, complete and coherent programs accompany the advance of the CEMAC zone to emerge. It comes in 5-axis, 12 strategic objectives, 31 programs and 88 cases of actions.

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Two separate projects of exploitation of these ore deposits exist in Gabon and Cameroon each provide heavy investment in transport infrastructure.

However, sticking to the vision of a "Green Gabon" whose ambition is to make Gabon, in 2015, the first destination for tourism related to the African rainforest, and a model for national parks of the twenty-first century, the project operating Belinga iron will not be in its present form with the operation Mine, the construction of a deepwater port at Santa Clara and a dam large Hydroelectric Poubara, track construction of railway to connect Belinga to Boou Ntoum and the periphery of the future port of Santa Clara in north Libreville.

Indeed, the Belinga site happens to be in an ecological zone and the realization of current project could destroy the forest ecosystem and inevitably go against the vision of this country. This implies a PER for the redevelopment of existing projects. The regional hub of steel that will emerge will be limited around border region between Cameroon and Gabon as a focal point with the site Mbalam. The specific infrastructure projects planned in the framework of this cluster Steel border are essentially (i) the development of sea port deep Kribi, the construction of a railway line between Mbalam and Kribi Ramp connects to other production sites to Mbalam.

Regarding project Belinga, the dam of Grand Poubara will to power as sites production of manganese metal and silico-manganese in Moanda (project Eramet). For the moment, there is no formal plan for the recovery of iron ore
place. Existing projects are oriented towards the export of raw ore. Yet CEMAC region have very important assets for the emergence of clusters metalworking exploiting the iron ore. It is also rich metals (manganese, nickel, cobalt ....) which, combined with iron can produce iron alloys. But this requires technological mastery which must planning mastery thanks to partnerships with steel groups need to attract and create the conditions for investment within relocations.
The use of hydroelectric power provided under the PER and production electricity from gas will have a very competitive cost electricity and sustainable. The interconnection of electricity networks will provide the energy necessary for metallurgical processing sites and bring electricity in Other principal mining sites.
Besides the availability of energy, the CEMAC is close to major markets such as European Union with which it negotiates an economic partnership agreement in the framework of ECCAS. The issue of market access is therefore an essential competitiveness.
To achieve this ambition, it is essential beyond the assets, know where one starts and what are our major handicaps. CEMAC is for example very deprived in terms its infrastructure. Mining and metallurgical industries erection (Aluminum and iron) require significant efforts to achieve infrastructure energy and transportation, related logistics services. The region has a disability found in terms of training, especially the availability of resources specialized human. This requires a strong policy of training and learning which individual states can not cope. That is what motivates the ongoing reform of the system of community training centers and the need
management training needs of specialized human resources.

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2.5.3 Becoming a major ferro-alloys
Today, three countries, Cameroon, Gabon and Congo, have resources iron ore. >font color=marroon>There were two projects major resource extraction of iron Gabon and Cameroon.

In Gabon, it is envisaged to run the hydroelectric dam at Grand Poubara ensure a power of 160 MW and a 280 MW second phase to cover needs of a steelworks carried by Eramet Manganese (COMILOG). The Gabon, by the Ogooue Mining Company (COMILOG), a subsidiary of French group Eramet, now produces about 3 million tonnes of manganese per year transported to the port of Owendo south of Libreville by the railway Transgabon. Gabon's reserves are the second largest producer of manganese for the steel industry. Eramet has plans to build a metallurgical complex in Moanda, including a plant silico-manganese a annual capacity of 65 000 tonnes and a manganese metal plant of 20 000 tonnes year. The implementation of the project requires the construction of the hydroelectric
Grand Poubara and strengthening the power grid connecting the dam metallurgical complex.

In Cameroon, the exploitation of iron Mbalam which individual deposits are estimated 2.4 billion tonnes of ore a significant low-ore, is under concession for the benefit of the Australian mining company Sundance Resources. The project involves construction of a railway linking Mining Mbalam port of Kribi and the development of a port ore in the port for the export of ore.

There is, however, that the logical operating across national supersede the following characteristics: a logging concession in each country comprising establishment of infrastructure for the delivery and export of ore, separate projects of infrastructure in each country to evacuate the iron ore to the two ports in each project countries, despite the location of the ore in the same border area adjacent to both countries and focusing on the export of raw ore project without recovery site.

A true regional strategy is possible with the pooling of infrastructure of iron mining and the construction of a regional steel industry. The pooling of railway projects and development of mineral ore ports to iron mining would reduce investment costs and logistics costs export ore. These savings will give States a bargaining more important towards candidates for logging concessions. The aim would then erected around the steel industry with a regional transforming part of iron ore, steel and other ferro-alloys, manganese Gabon, nickel and cobalt Lomi in Cameroon an industrial friendly gradually SME specialized in the production of many materials construction for the construction, industry ...

Local processing of ores for ferro-alloys should be encouraged, particularly needs to capture significant market MGB regional turmoil. The rich Gabon and Cameroon in iron and manganese opens the way for the development of production industry ferromanganese alloy primary steel industry.

The strategic objective of CEMAC is to position ourselves long term in major producer alloy base for the European market and produce downstream products for the regional market of construction: rails, concrete iron, gas cylinders ...
To achieve this objective, the development of metallurgical industries will be through the establishment of a regional cluster of steel that be positioned near the major production of iron ore.
Export-oriented, the center will consolidate the activities upstream and downstream of the die Metallurgy and attract a multitude of actors and companies. The pole can take as a Special Economic Zone providing benefits in terms of taxation and rights holder and administrative facilities. The ultimate ambition is to build a competitive regional cluster around the core business or activities of cluster heads.

Eventually, the cluster of steel "Ferroalloys" will configuration activities said heads of cluster brings together companies exporters: ironworks production of steel and iron alloys, SMEs producing and exporting in particular regional markets, a variety of materials based on iron and iron alloys in particular building materials metal for construction of regional markets. These activities will induce a significant amount of support issued by companies: upstream: Operating iron ore, service companies vocational, Interim, electricity supply, business outsourcing, business services (Accounting, housing, hotels, restaurants ...) The erection logistics services ... such a cluster requires a basic nfrastructure including: the development and equipment siting of the pole (servicing, external works, electrification, infrastructure and ICT services, financial services such as banking & insurance, postal services, health services, developing a business framework specifically adapted to the reality a cluster (including regulatory and tax matters customs, access to market and export). A strong authority, institution with a legitimacy to the highest level (Heads of State) will administer the pole, as an interface between businesses and state governments to ensure respect for their rights but also their duties, to ensure the quality and Compliance services delivered (customs, taxation ...) the pole, acting as interface related services (customs, taxation, control services ...). The authority will act very important animation division, representation and management of partnerships, promotion to attract investment.

Investment promotion requires the establishment of links with the visibility mining and metallurgical operators, promotion of skilled pole, a device competitive intelligence with surveillance criteria of competitiveness in the collection, inventory management needs and the adequacy of programs and products training device ...

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click here for CEMAC

click here for Cameroon and Gabon: locomotive CEMAC

click here for CMAC 2025: Towards an integrated and emergent regional economy

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..And again many thanks for your valuable researches on SDL

Cheers,