FYITwo weeks on, and this story is now starting to appear in...

FYI
Two weeks on, and this story is now starting to appear in African media.


Fer de Mbalam: the Australian Supreme Court opens an investigation into the Chinese company AustSino

(Business in Cameroon) - The battles over the operating permit for the mining project located between Mbalam, in Cameroon, and Nabeba, in Congo, are now open before the Australian courts. Indeed, we learn from a press release from the mining junior Sundance Resources, currently in conflict with Cameroon (which wishes to withdraw its permit) and Congo (which has already done so), the Australian Supreme Court has decided to open a preliminary investigation into the Chinese company AustSino and its managing director, Mr. Ding.

The request for an investigation, we learn, was submitted by Sundance, which accuses the Chinese company, formerly its partner, of having fraudulently maneuvered to replace it as operator of the Mbalam mining permit. In the context of this decision, the Supreme Court finds that Sundance has presented material elements making admissible a lawsuit against AustSino and Mr. Ding, for misuse of confidential information and misappropriation of a business opportunity.

"The evidence of Mr. Casello [ex-CEO of Sundance] is sufficient to establish that the information provided to AustSino included technical and commercial information that could be considered confidential and that it was provided in circumstances likely to 'be considered to entail obligations of confidentiality, so that they should only be used for the purpose of developing a project in which Sundance was participating , writes the Supreme Court in a document that Investir au Cameroun was able to consult.

In its complaint, Sundance notes that in October 2021, in collaboration with a financial partner by the name of Bestway, AustSino submitted to the government of Cameroon a feasibility study for the construction of a railway linking the Mbalam site to the port of Kribi. And that this happened only four months after AustSino announced on June 26, 2021 that it would "initiate the necessary studies and advance discussions to achieve the objectives set out in the memorandum of understanding" with Bestway and Cameroon.

Through the Supreme Court action, Sundance hopes to learn more about the feasibility study AustSino submitted to the government of Cameroon and how AustSino and Mr. Ding were able to misuse other confidential and proprietary information. from Sundance. The mining junior hopes that the legal action will allow the Mbalama mining permit to return to it in the end.

Slowness
Since 2015, after several extensions of its exploration license on the project, the Australian mining junior Sundance Resources has not managed to secure a technical and financial partner for the installation of the infrastructures relating to the Mbalam project (construction of a railway over 500 km between Mbalam and Kribi, from the mine and an ore terminal to the deep water port of Kribi). Successive attempts with the Chinese companies China Gezhouba, in 2015, Tidfore Heavy Equipment Group Ltd, in 2018, and finally AustSino, from 2018, have all been crowned with failure.

And on June 25, 2021 in Yaoundé, the State of Cameroon, through the Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Ngallé Bibéhé, signs with the companies AutSino Resources Group Ltd and Bestway Finance Ltd, a memorandum of understanding (MoU), for the construction of the railway of more than 500 km linking Mbalam to the deep water port of Kribi.

Sylvain Andzongo


Pre-translated source:
https://www.investiraucameroun.com/mines/1304-17779-fer-de-mbalam-la-cour-supreme-australienne-ouvre-une-enquete-sur-le-chinois-austsino


I've lost count how many times I've seen the word "failure" used to describe how Sundance have managed their former project over the years.
The ex CEO earned millions out of this anyway over the years from a $600k+ annual salary.