FYI, Sundance in the African media again today.Translated from...

FYI, Sundance in the African media again today.
Translated from French.
You're welcome.



Fer de Mbalam: Australian Sundance seeks damages of 3,400 billion FCFA in Cameroon

Monday, 19 December 2022 10:29


(Above - David Porter, Sundance Resources)

(Business in Cameroon) - In its statement of claim filed with the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, the Australian mining junior Sundance Resources seeks damages of 5.5 billion dollars (i.e. 3,401.6 billion FCFA, according to the current rate of the dollar) in the context of the dispute between it and the State of Cameroon concerning the Mbalam iron mining project, in the east of the country.

"Last week, Sundance submitted its memorandum of claim against Cameroon to the ICC [International Chamber of Commerce] in Paris. In this complaint, we requested that the mining license be issued to Cam Iron [Cameroonian subsidiary of Sundance] or, if this does not happen, damages in the order of 5.5 billion US dollars . Again, this complaint is supported by substantial documents, including witness statements and independent expert reports," said its president, David Porter (photo), in a note published on December 16.

The amount demanded by Sundance from the State of Cameroon is pharaonic. This is more than half of the budget of the whole country in 2023. This sum also represents 36 times the estimate (94 billion FCFA) of the expenses incurred during the research phase by the mining company, according to the Cameroonian minister. mines. **riel Dodo Ndocké also believed that the payment of this "debt" would put an end to the arbitration procedure. But the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, refused this arrangement.

Convinced of Yaoundé's desire to continue the development of the mining project with other partners, the Australian mining junior seized the International Court of Arbitration of the Paris International Chamber of Commerce in June 2021 in order to oblige the country to granted an exploitation permit on this iron deposit, after the mining agreement of November 29, 2012 and the transition agreement of June 30, 2015.

To understand the genesis of this dispute, it should be remembered that after several extensions of its exploration license on the project, the Australian mining junior was unable to secure a technical and financial partner for the establishment of the related infrastructure. The Mbalam mining project (construction of a railway over 500 km between Mbalam and Kribi, the mine and an ore terminal at the deep water port of Kribi). Successive attempts with Chinese companies China Gezhouba, in 2015; Tidfore Heavy Equipment Group Ltd, in 2018, and finally AustSino, from 2018, all failed.

Cameroon has therefore decided to turn to other partners to develop the mining project, including AutSino Resources Group Ltd and Bestway Finance. What Sundance disputes before the courts considering that it was abused by the State of Cameroon and the Chinese AutSino who signed a contract (railway component) directly with the State, on June 25, 2021 in Yaoundé.

S.A.

Also read:

24-10-2023-Fer de Mbalam : Sundance annonce une nouvelle action en justice en vue de contester l’attribution du permis à CMC Sarl

09-09-2022-Fer de Mbalam : le permis d’exploitation attribué à Cameroon Mining Company, une société liée à Bestway Finance

16-05-2022 - Fer de Mbalam : Paul Biya refuse de payer 94 milliards de FCFA à Sundance et choisit l’arbitrage

24-02-2022 - Fer de Mbalam : avec le terminal minéralier, AutSino et Bestway font un bond vers la reprise des actifs miniers de Sundance

Source:
https://www.investiraucameroun.com/mines/1912-18867-fer-de-mbalam-l-australien-sundance-demande-des-dommages-de-3-400-milliards-de-fcfa-au-cameroun


Sometimes with an "s", sometimes without the "s".