Member Info for extrader

"Ministère de la Coopération Internationale - Congo

@CooperationCG

·4h

Translated from French

Minister Denis @ChristelSassou Nguesso granted an exclusive long-format interview in which he reflects on his actions over the past five years at the helm of his ministerial department.

➡️ To be followed this February 18 at 6 p.m., on our official channels"

"Maybe it has resulted in something, it will just be done through RAM.??"

Why? What credibility does RAM - incorporated in Delaware on 19th Dec 2025 - have, that ZIOC and its major shareholders don't?

'Asking for a friend'.

;->

GLA

.."London court orders the Republic of Argentina to disclose information on contracts with international oil and energy companies, as well as bank accounts, among other items. The order comes as part of ongoing sovereign asset discovery in the Euro GDP Warrants case...."

More sand in the gears.

GLA

.."Then there is all the worldwide travelling he has supposedly done to promote Zanaga to potential investors (and possible buyers), which has resulted in ..... absolutely nothing..."

An important - and possibly material -qualifier..... "that we've been told about".......

HTH and GLA

Hi Jiving,

ZIOC can point to the ARISE IIP MoU, (Dec 2024) the authorities can see the progress it's making on its SEZ project; and to the CEC power MoU (Govt 80%/ENI 20%) where C-B will know the situation'on the ground'...and who's responsibility it is if there's no progress on that front.

It can also disclose to C-B (more than it has to shareholders) the workings that underpin the 2024 feasibility study that the various Value Enhancement Initiatives are built on.

After all, as recently as 6 Jan 2026, we were promised

.."Next milestones expected in Q1 2026, as previously announced on 30 December 2025:

· Project development strategy update (announcement planned for February 2026)

o Process plant Front End Engineering & Design ("FEED") RESULTS, including UPDATE CAPITAL AND OPERATING COST ESTIMATES based on a DRI flowsheet developed through 2025.

o Fully integrated Project development plan, INCLUDING THE ECONOMICS OF ALL Project enhancements assessed to date.

o Update on LOGISTICS AND INFRASTRUCTURE solutions required to support development of the Zanaga Project."

On 12 Jan 2026, 6 days later, we were invited to an Investor Event and Planned Corporate Update (which would have been the opportunity for ZIOC to deliver on its own agenda, as many of us interpreted), which turned out instead to be the Strategic Investment proposal.

This is obviously a distraction and - rightly - the focus of everyone's attention.

If C-B started to express unhappiness at the state of affairs (as it did with KP2, IIRC) there'd be some notice and 'time to cure'.

Speaking of which, ZIOC still has until end Feb 2026 to deliver on its recent 'financial costings' undertaking, so - who knows? - maybe they'll still make their deadline for disclosure.

And maybe they'll spring another rabbit(s) out of the hat?

The recent appointment (Jan 2026) of Cozmo Kampanaos to a hitherto 'lean and mean' ZIOC team - and his particular skillset - suggests to me that

(1) ZIOC doesn't see an imminent threat to its concession; and OTOH, if there are any, that

(2) ZIOC anticipates some developments that will address any C-B concerns.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cozmokampanaos

I personally think it's a side-issue and that there are bigger fish to fry.

IMO, DYOR, NAI, etc etc

ATB

.."Majors want to do their own FEED, they have their own technical staff and consultants. Not some third party crap..."

I doubt whether BHP, Rio, Vale or any other major co want to do their own FEED, because if there's a c*ck-up , they've no recourse. Meanwhile, they have a lot of un(der)employed expensive staff on the books.

Rather, they'll have 'hired for the purpose' technical staff and consultants to review the detailed FEED work done by one or more EPC contractors...so they have redress from those guys' insurance co's if they foul up bigly.

Then, armed with a quote from one - or preferably more- EPC contractor/s, they'll ask for a revised quote, based on lump-sum, FIXED price (intended to remove/reduce execution risk), they'll check into the bidder's track record, technical expertise and financial strength, maybe even requiring posting of a 3rd party bank guarantee or similar.

That's my understanding, anyway.

NAI, DYOR, HTH.

.."I think it highly likely that the FEED work is in fact already underway, as supplier finance, incidentally quite a usual arrangement, AIUI"

See:

(1)Sinohydro – Hydropower Projects Across Africa. Also, representative of Chinese SOE practice.

Sinohydro routinely performs pre‑FEED and FEED‑equivalent engineering before financing is finalised.

They do this to lock in design control and secure the EPC contract, which is where their margin sits.

FEED costs are later rolled into the EPC contract value.

(2)China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) – Rail & Mine Corridors

CRCC has repeatedly advanced route design, geotechnical studies, and FEED‑level engineering ahead of mandate.

This is common in mining‑linked rail corridors (e.g., Angola, DRC, Ethiopia).

The early work is treated as a loss leader to secure the multi‑billion‑dollar EPC.

ZIOC’s project includes slurry pipeline + port — exactly the type of infrastructure where Chinese EPC groups front‑load engineering.

(3) Fluor – Oil & Gas FEED‑to‑EPC Transitions

Fluor has a long history of discounted or deferred FEED when they believe they are well‑positioned for EPC.

In LNG and petrochemicals, FEED packages of $20–40M are often partially absorbed to secure EPC contracts of $1–5B.

Shows that even Western EPCs treat FEED as a strategic investment.

(4)Bechtel – Mining & LNG

Bechtel has advanced pre‑FEED and optimisation studies at minimal upfront cost to secure EPC on:

large copper projects

LNG trains

rail/port expansions

They openly describe FEED as a competitive differentiator, not a profit centre.

(5) Worley (formerly WorleyParsons) – Iron Ore & Bulk Materials

Worley has repeatedly undertaken early engineering and FEED‑like scopes for iron ore expansions in Australia.

These are often partially vendor‑financed or billed at reduced rates, with the expectation of EPCM award.

Directly comparable to ZIOC’s sector.

AND FAHAD AL TAMIMI, BELIEVED TO BE OUR SAUDI INVESTOR IS HEAD OF WORLEY'S SAUDI J/V AND BIG IN PHOSPHATE.

https://www.timcosa.com/fahad-al-tamimi.html

(6) Chinese Mining EPCs ( Iron Ore & Bauxite)

Chinese EPCs routinely:

Start FEED before mandate

Carry FEED cost on their own balance sheet

Recover it inside the EPC contract

Use FEED to embed proprietary process design

Treat FEED as a strategic foothold to secure the EPC + equipment supply

Examples include:

MCC on various Australian iron ore projects, notably Roy Hill and Sino Iron;

CNEEC on bauxite/alumina FEED‑to‑EPC transitions, Guinea bauxite > alumina.

Finally, I've been told - 'No names, no packdrill' - that Chinese EPC involvement in early engineering and optimisation work is well documented in Guinean government tender summaries; Chinese‑language engineering bulletins; and industry reporting on subcontractor roles in the Simandou corridor.

SOMETHING ZIOC'S NED, PHIL MITCHELL , SHOULD SURELY BE AWARE OF .

As would pretty much all of our C-Suite notables, of course....

'576k buy filled at the close at 6.16……explains why it was held here today.'

Really?

Date Time Trade Prc Volume Buy/Sell Bid Ask Value

13-Feb-26 08:00:23 6.1396 576,418 Unknown* 5.94 6.08 35.39k

If you MUST point something out that those who are interested can see for themselves, at least post accurately.

TIA!

Jiving

RAM's contribution to FEED is in tranches-3 to 5- that onlystart AFTER they have a mandate. If anyone elsecomes in , they'll do so WITHIN that date, so any time lost in FEED prep wiould be minimal..

I think it highly likely that the FEED work is in fact already underway, as supplier finance, incidentally quite a usual arrangement, AIUI

GLA

Aide memoire, sent to a friend early last year:

From Shard doc, March 2025:

.."Valuation

We value ZIOP using an unrisked DCF-derived NPV with a 10% discount rate and incorporating the results of the updated 2024 Feasibility Study, which outlines the development in two consecutive stages producing up to 30Mtpa of a pellet feed product for 30 years.

Our base case, unrisked and ungeared NPV is US$4.8bn using our nominal long-term iron ore benchmark price of $90/t for 62% Fe, (CFR China) We have

assumed a market premium of US$2.5 for one Fe unit and freight rate of US$24/t from Point Noire.

We then apply a 90% haircut to account for financing and execution risks arriving at a risked NPV of £480m equivalent to 60p per share and representing a 500% uplift to ZIOC’s current share price..."

This, of course, was BEFORE any adjustment for the various value enhancement measures (detailed workings promised for Feb 2026, curiously missing from the eventual Indaba presentation)

My observation to the addressee at the time seems prescient:

"On the one hand, there's been a subsequent re-determination of ore quality > 68.5%, which ups the NPV by about 30%.[At $9.2 Bn, evidently more].

On the other, the new investors (altho' leading luminaries - 2 x exCEOs of Anglo American, Ex Head of Business @ Rio Tinto, ex head of Xstrata Resources/former Treasurer of UK Conservative party (OK, maybe ignore that bit), MIGHT be in a position to de-list on the cheap...and keep the upside to themselves.

And the Congo Brazzaville country risk , China risk etc etc haven't gone away..."

And it came to pass...

GLA

GLA

FT headline:

The rise of the floating gas factory

A giant LNG plant moored in the sea off Congo is a cutting-edge way of supplying Europe with energy

Snippet: .."A colossal floating gas factory moored in shallow waters off the Republic of the Congo’s coast began supplying Europe last week, bringing towards the mainstream a technology that was once sidelined by cost.

The Nguya, operated by Italian energy major Eni, is longer than the largest US aircraft carrier and dwarfed the 300-metre tanker that pulled up to load its first cargo.

Rising from its bright orange hull is a dense forest of pipes, towers, turbines and cooling units that can process millions of tonnes of gas a year from the offshore fields below. The Nguya cools the fuel to -162°C, turning it into liquid and drastically condensing its volume, allowing it to be transported economically to Spain and Italy...."

More secure than a land-based facility; less (visibly) polluting; and almost 'plug and play' : can be moved economically to/from short-life fields.

Should help C-B balance of payments, too.

GLA

My reply to Jiving's post on t'other board, from GLEN PoV:

Coincidental timeline?

-July 2024 Sundance states that C-B has made a cash settlement offer, deadline 30 September; then, an agreed extension to 31 Oct 2024, citing evidence of progress; then ends discussions, after non-payment by revised date.

See https://www.sundanceresources.com.au/irm/pdf/61cad582-d041-42aa-a4c5-a6867e115165/Conditional-settlement-with-Congo-terminated.pdf

Meanwhile, GLEN is trying to clear up its 2 x Congo acts:

(1) Re DRC, in Aug 2024 it gets verdict and fines for its activities there, .." a CHF 2 million (USD 2.3 million) fine and a USD 150 million compensation bill for the company. ..' this follows ' a USD 1.1 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and fines from the UK and Brazil, among others...".

Article notes .." company is already under an obligation to have U.S. DOJ monitors actively observing its compliance efforts, after having reached a deal two years ago with the DRC’s government, resulting in another $180 million fine over essentially similar bribery allegations..."

See https://www.primerio.international/blogs/a-reverse-goldmine-glencores-troubled-congo-relationship-partners-yield-swiss-fines-for-mining-giant/

Note that GLEN - unfazed - is still doing business in DRC, esp 'critical minerals'.

Also, in passing, that Marty worked for GLEN in DRC Aug 2021 to Sept 2022, after which he took gardening leave / consultant until joining ZIOC in Nov 2023.

hTTps://www.linkedin.com/in/marty-knauth-49992235

(2) Re Congo-Brazzaville, GLEN had unsettled 2016/7 pre-export oil finance loans of $ 850m, GLEN reached a 5 year repayment programme in Jan 2024.

hTTps://www.fitchsolutions.com/bmi/mining/glencore-increasing-share-critical-minerals-asset-portfolio-05-03-2024

But everything quickly seems to have gone sour, see

hTTps://www.africaintelligence.com › central-africa › impatient Glencore badgers Brazzaville to pay debt....

Dec 20, 2024 · In LATE September, Glencore announced a default WITHOUT GIVING BRAZZAVILLE ANY FOREWARNING [article claims]. Congo had ALREADY SETTLED more than half of its debt in less than three years.[article also claims. I'm not clear how this squares with the re-scheduling, but still shows progress, AFAICS]

Caveat :Africa Intelligence is considered 'supportive' of C-B, so to be taken with a pinch of salt, but even so...

I wonder whether, given its DoJ undertakings; the pace of settlement; the limited scope for it to advance Zanaga (toxic to C-B AND the Chinese CMRG single desk ore buyer), it decided to exit C-B altogether, grab for itself funds C-B had earmarked for Sundance and progress its exit* from C-B, leaving ZIOC AS ITS ONLY UNFINISHED BUSINESS.

*Trafigura stepped in to settle residual GLEN debt.

GLEN 'inherited' ZIOC and had written Jumelles down to NIL value by FYE 2022 - this puts the 2022 acquisition - and 2025 buyout terms in perspective .

AIUI

GLA

.."Approach the company, approach their officers, contact the NomAd and brokers. Ask the right questions. Seek clarification and answers. Only when that doesn't work....."

If your much trailed 'smoking gun' has seemingly misfired, it should be safe to share with a wider audience now.

Unless you're semi-inside and just trying to act as honest broker.

GLA

Hi Jiving,

Thanks.

Also consider a more complex timeline:

-July 2024 Sundance states that C-B has made a cash settlement offer, deadline 30 September; then, an agreed extension to 31 Oct 2024, citing evidence of progress; then ends discussions, after non-payment by revised date.

See https://www.sundanceresources.com.au/irm/pdf/61cad582-d041-42aa-a4c5-a6867e115165/Conditional-settlement-with-Congo-terminated.pdf

Meanwhile, GLEN is trying to clear up its 2 x Congo acts:

(1) Re DRC, in Aug 2024 it gets verdict and fines for its activities there, .." a CHF 2 million (USD 2.3 million) fine and a USD 150 million compensation bill for the company. ..' this follows ' a USD 1.1 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and fines from the UK and Brazil, among others...".

Article notes .." that the company is already under an obligation to have U.S. DOJ monitors actively observing its compliance efforts, in addition to having reached a deal two years ago with the DRC’s government, resulting in another $180 million fine over essentially similar bribery allegations..."

See https://www.primerio.international/blogs/a-reverse-goldmine-glencores-troubled-congo-relationship-partners-yield-swiss-fines-for-mining-giant/

Note that GLEN - unfased - has carried on doing business in DRC, esp 'critical minerals'.

Note in passing that Marty worked for GLEN in DRC Aug 2021 to Sept 2022, after which he took gardening leave / consultant until joining ZIOC in Nov 2023.

See https://www.linkedin.com/in/marty-knauth-49992235

(2) Re Congo-Brazzaville, GLEN had unsettled 2016/7 pre-export oil finance loans of $ 850m, GLEN reached a 5 year repayment programme in Jan 2024.

See https://www.fitchsolutions.com/bmi/mining/glencore-increasing-share-critical-minerals-asset-portfolio-05-03-2024

But everything quickly seems to have gone sour, see

Africa Intelligence

https://www.africaintelligence.com › central-africa › impatient-glencore...

Congo Impatient Glencore badgers Brazzaville to pay debt

Dec 20, 2024 · In LATE September, Glencore announced a default WITHOUT GIVING BRAZZAVILLE ANY FOREWARNING [article claims]. Congo had ALREADY SETTLED more than half of its debt in less than three years.[article also claims. I'm not clear how this squares with the re-scheduling, but still shows progress, as far as I can tell]

Caveat :Africa Intelligence is considered 'supportive' of C-B, so to be taken with a pinch of salt, but even so...

I wonder whether, given its DoJ undertakings; the pace of settlement; the limited scope for it to advance Zanaga (toxic to C-B AND the Chinese

CMRG single desk ore buyer), it decided to exit C-B altogether, grab for itself funds C-B had earmarked for Sundance and progress its exit* from C-B, leaving ZIOC AS ITS ONLY UNFINISHED BUSINESS.

*Trafigura stepped in to settle residual GLEN debt.

This might explain the year-end 2024 gyrations...??

GLA

.."I'm not criticising him for his speculation. However his occasional claims to have inside knowledge that therefore made his speculation better than ours is a bit hard to take bearing in mind what has happened..."

Which is precisely why I asked re the smoking gun: he has to come up with something worthwhile to regain credibility, AFAICS.

And - who knows? - if he does 'come clean' about his insights, there might be something of benefit for everyone to know.

So the ball's still with him, AFAICS

.."his occasional claims to have inside knowledge that therefore made his speculation better than ours is a bit hard to take bearing in mind what has happened..."

Which is why I hope that he'll be able to tell us something that will show that we're both wrong.

The ball's in his court.

GLA

And where is the endorsement for THIS deal from the Chairman, who was effusive about the 'onboarding' of the notables in March of last year....and of the great job done then by AT and MK?

Shameful.

.."Extrader you seem to be talking nonsense there. The tranche 1 money is staged so that the money is provided as required to support FEED, and

they can abort after the third payment if it doesn't go to plan.."

(1) What sort of a commitment /mindset / confidence does that speak to?

(2) What if there's an intervening 'development' eg 3rd party approach after say the first $5 Mn is paid in (in the first 3 months, say)?

The whole structure would be 'overtaken by events' .....

We need to think about 'capabilities', not nicely worded 'intentions', IMO.

It's quite possible, for instance that the mooted main contractor has been happy to work on a $20M FEED project almost 'pro bono' (write it off / down to R and D in worst case, charge to 'China Inc') , considering the size of the ultimate prize.

$ 20M is chicken-feed in the scheme of things...$15M even more so.

.." the project requires roughly $1bn equity (illustrative number in the deck).."

The presentation ignores the many alternative ways of raising 'quasi' equity to get the needed financing ...AND a sensible 'free carry' for shareholders: toll fee arrangements; streaming arrangements ; offtake arrangements (remember them?); royalty arrangements.

And equity requirement can be as low as 30% of Project cost if you add in supplier finance, development bank support, export credit agency support.

The head of African Development Bank, for instance, was coincidentally meeting Big Den yesterday....and the Gupta connections ATIF, ARISE, AfreximBank and A2MP are no doubt working their angles, as we speak.

HTH

HI Thor121,

"70 people at the presentation including trading houses, steel mills, industry figures etc..."

Who attended, pls?

Cheers.