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Sundance to conclude Mbalam iron ore partnership talks by June


YAOUNDE | Thu May 30, 2013 8:11am EDT
May 30 (Reuters) - Australia's Sundance Resources will conclude discussions with potential partners on its $4.7 billion Africa iron ore project by June and announce a chosen partner three months later, the firm's chief operations officer told Reuters.

David Meehan said Sundance was in advanced talks with several firms including Chinese banks and construction firms and that the Chinese government will back any other partner after China's Hanlong walked away from a takeover deal in April.

"We will end the discussions probably in June 2013 and we will have a shortlist. Three months later, we will know who will be the final partner," Meehan said late on Wednesday on the sidelines of a mining conference in Cameroon's capital. (Reporting by Beaugas-Orain Djoyum; writing by Bate Felix; editing by David Lewis and Keiron Henderson)