Page 54 - pd296-August21-mag-web

AFRIcA DoWn UnDeR PReVIeW

Music stops for Sundance

iulio Casello has stepped down as chief in late 2011. However, less than two years opments, not least because an Australian
Gexecutive of Sundance Resources Ltd later, and with Hanlong unable to fund the company – AustSino – that we introduced
in what could be interpreted as the final nail deal, Sundance was back in the market for into the Mbalam-Nabeba iron ore project
in the coffin of the first generation of African a partner. is attempting to benefit from the illegal ex-
junior iron ore developers. The company eventually found one in propriation of Sundance’s iron ore assets,”
Casello led Sundance through a tumultu- 2018 when AustSino Resources Group Ltd Casello said in June.
ous decade which saw it and several other signed up to clear Sundance’s debts and “We worked in good faith to introduce
ASX-listed iron ore juniors reach the edge build a consortium to fund development of AustSino to our project and arrange a role
of development with a set of high-grade, Mbalam-Nabeba. But once again, the pro- for AustSino in the negotiations with Cam-
DSO projects on the continent. In the last cess dragged on with AustSino unable to eroon and Congo on the basis of a clear un-
two years however, Sundance and the bring relevant investors to the project. derstanding that AustSino would act in our
handful of other remaining companies have mutual interests in accordance with their
spent more time in the courts than the core legal obligations.
yard. “Sundance has always fulfilled all of its
Casello will remain with the company as licence obligations and gone above and
a non-executive director but there is clear beyond in both Cameroon and Congo,
frustration that the Sundance story appears which is why we are so determined to chal-
at an end. lenge this illegal expropriation through the
“The past 11 years have delivered a roll- international courts, a process that is under
ercoaster ride though it never dented my way.”
commitment to try to deliver positive out- Sundance has engaged international ar-
comes for all Sundance stakeholders,” Ca- bitration specialists Clifford Chance to lead
sello said. “As disappointed and shocked its case against the Cameroon and Congo
as I am at the turn of events last year, I re- governments. The law firm is similarly
main as committed as the Sundance board working with Equatorial after its Bandondo
to seeking justice for the illegal expropria- iron ore project in Republic of Congo also
tion of our iron ore assets.” ended up in the hands of Sangha Mining.
Sundance, Equatorial Resources Ltd “Equatorial continues to assert the com-
and Cape Lambert Resources all enjoyed pany is the only party with a legitimate and
market support during the iron ore heyday, appropriate entitlement to a valid mining li-
attracting significant investment for their cence for Bandondo,” the company said in
development plans in Cameroon, Republic its March quarterly report.
of Congo and Sierra Leone respectively. In Sierra Leone, Cyclone has been work-
However, the mix of softening commodity ing for three years to reinstate the mining
prices, weighty capital requirements and licence it originally held for the Marampa
impatient stakeholders conspired to send iron ore project. The company said it met
all three downwards. with the Minister of Mines in January to
At the time of print, Sundance, Equato- “discuss and propose an investment case
rial and the now rebadged Cyclone Metals for the Marampa project” and subsequently
Ltd are all in dispute with their host govern- launched a public awareness campaign
ments over revoked licences. about the company’s commitment to the
It is a far cry from mid-2011 when each project.
had ambitions of being a genuine iron ore Africa’s iron ore potential remains untapped “Some ongoing political turmoil makes
producer, a West African version of Fortes- it difficult to predict when the Government
cue Metals Group Ltd. will assign the licence, but they have shown
It is Sundance which has perhaps fallen In November 2020, Sundance termi- commitment to reissue the mining licence
furthest. Having recovered from the trage- nated its agreement with AustSino after the to the company,” the company said in a
dy of losing its entire board in a plane crash latter failed to invest the $29 million it had statement.
in 2010, by 2011 the company boasted a originally agreed to. Less than a month lat- All three companies represent a caution-
plus-$2 billion market cap with its Mbalam- er, the Republic of Congo Government can- ary tale for ambitious Australian bulk com-
Nabeba project on the border of Cameroon celled Sundance’s licences, awarding them modity miners on the continent. The mix of
and Republic of Congo, one of the highest- to Sangha Mining Development, a newly high capital costs, fluctuating commodity
quality undeveloped iron ore deposits in the formed, Hong Kong-registered company prices and impatient stakeholders make
world. owned 100% by Bestway Finance Ltd. most African iron ore developments almost
A DFS was completed on Mbalam-Na- In June, AustSino and Bestway then an- insurmountable.
beba that year but as iron ore prices cas- nounced they had signed a MoU with the However, with iron ore prices high again,
caded, the company found market appetite Cameroon Government over construction a new generation led by Genmin Ltd (see
for a $US4.6 billion project waning. A white of the 510km railway connecting the Mbal- over) are applying the lessons of the past,
knight appeared in the form of Chinese am-Nabeba project to the deep-water port meaning Africa could yet again see an Aus-
group Hanlong Mining, who offered 57c/ of Kribi. tralian junior-led iron ore sector.
share or $1.65 billion for 100% of Sundance “We are shocked at these latest devel-

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