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Frank Kane is Editor-at-Large of AGBI and an award-winning business journalist. He acts as a consultant to the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia and is a media adviser to First Abu Dhabi Bank of the UAE....
Consider the source.
GLA
And, for completeness' sake, the EITI's observations re (1) Zanaga and (2) Mbalam-Nabeba, upcountry :
(1) Mining Project Development (MPD) Congo S.A. (member of FedMines) has been held since December 2022 by the sole shareholder Zanaga Iron Ore Company, which is listed on the London AIM Market (Glencore holds 48.26% of ZIOC).
(2) Sangha Mining Development Ltd is owned by Hong Kong-registered Best Way Finance. It is itself owned by another Hong Kong-based company called GRL20 Nominee. The structure is ultimately owned by a holding company registered in the UK territory of Anguilla, operating under the name of First Director Inc. It is not a member of FedMine.
Looking at the ownership structures, which of the above would you wanting to do business with ?
GLA
And, for completeness' sake, the EITI's observations re (1) Zanaga and (2) Mbalam-Nabeba, upcountry :
(1) Mining Project Development (MPD) Congo S.A. (member of FedMines) has been held since December 2022 by the sole shareholder Zanaga Iron Ore Company, which is listed on the London AIM Market (Glencore holds 48.26% of ZIOC).
(2) Sangha Mining Development Ltd is owned by Hong Kong-registered Best Way Finance. It is itself owned by another Hong Kong-based company called GRL20 Nominee. The structure is ultimately owned by a holding company registered in the UK territory of Anguilla, operating under the name of First Director Inc. It is not a member of FedMine.
Looking at the ownership structures, which of the above would you wanting to do business with ?
GLA
And the relevant bit re Sapro Mayoko, also p 80, being :
.."In 2016, the Congolese company SAPRO Mayoko (Congo) bought DMC from the South African group Exxaro Resources Ltd, which held the Mayoko-Lékoumou iron ore mining licence in the Niari department. The company exported 40,000 tonnes of iron ore (DSO) in 2019, but since then it has not exported any more iron ore due to the poor state of the Chemin de Fer Congo-Océan (CFCO) railway line, which is in poor condition..."
FYI
And the relevant bit re Sapro Mayoko, also p 80, being :
.."In 2016, the Congolese company SAPRO Mayoko (Congo) bought DMC from the South African group Exxaro Resources Ltd, which held the Mayoko-Lékoumou iron ore mining licence in the Niari department. The company exported 40,000 tonnes of iron ore (DSO) in 2019, but since then it has not exported any more iron ore due to the poor state of the Chemin de Fer Congo-Océan (CFCO) railway line, which is in poor condition..."
FYI
The relevant bit re Turkish ULSAN acquiring Mayoko Moussondji - from the EITI (p 80) - being...
.." In July 2021, a third iron ore mining licence (the Mayoko Moussoundji licence) in the Niari department, held by Congo Mining (a subsidiary of the British group Midus Holding Limited), was withdrawn by the government. In August 2023, this licence was reallocated to the Turkish company ULSAN Mining Congo SAU. In 2021, the three companies affected by the licence withdrawals (Congo Iron, Congo Mining and Core Mining) and their investors (Sundance Resources, Midus Holding Limited and Core) initiated arbitration proceedings against the Congolese government before the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI)...."
FYI
The relevant bit from the EITI (p 80) being...
.." In July 2021, a third iron ore mining licence (the Mayoko Moussoundji licence) in the Niari department, held by Congo Mining (a subsidiary of the British group Midus Holding Limited), was withdrawn by the government. In August 2023, this licence was reallocated to the Turkish company ULSAN Mining Congo SAU. In 2021, the three companies affected by the licence withdrawals (Congo Iron, Congo Mining and Core Mining) and their investors (Sundance Resources, Midus Holding Limited and Core) initiated arbitration proceedings against the Congolese government before the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI)...."
FYI
Cont..
His daughter heads up a powerco that may have links to our hydropower MoU co.
Obambi himself is head of the local businessmen's group, recently in the news as agitating for proper use of the port container scanners (installed but not activated) which have been allowing parallel , unpaid duty imports by smugglers, affecting bona fide agents/businesses and depriving the State if revenue...
FWIW/ AFAII etc
GLA & ATB
Sapro ore at Mayoko Lekoumou (ex Exxaro) is lower quality than at Mayoko Moussendji (ex Equatorial), the latter appears to be in the hands of Turkish Ulsan , per the EITI link on MM's board.
Sapro's exports on the derelict Congo Atlantic rail have been minimal, AFAIAA, 2 x shipments reported a while back, both delayed by derailments (! ;-
(1) C'mon, Eddsy, why criticize a legitimate cross-post , prompted by MM's Li Yin reference - better than parroting ZIOC Pollyanna-ishly and uncritically.
Anything that boosts throughput of the port - and helps everyone gain 'critical mass' commercially - is surely in our common interest , no?
(2)This article - 'Potash deposits in Africa' - covers the basics re Mengo, identified in MM's recent post.
(3) This link takes us to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative re C-B - reasonably fresh - which shows us what semi-informed outsiders think of how things stand.
https://eiti.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Rapport%20ITIE%20Congo%202021.pdf
Some mildly interesting observations, which I'll post tomorrow.
GLA and ATB
https://www.episodes.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2016/v39i2/95787
.."As you already know, they wouldn't respond to a private investor question as they are under no obligation to respond to such questions..."
Grow up, man!
You started by wondering .."How can the RNS have a mistake that large in it without a correction.."
If you agree that they've made a mistake 'that large', they'll likely want to correct it - if only to protect themselves.
Get off you a*se and pester THEM - not this board.
Then, by all means come back and complain here. OTOH, you might actually get a reply, which would have been (more) productive use of your time
Sheesh!
Rather than repeat a complaint here - to which seemingly no-one , certainly not me - has a definitive answer, why not take it up with HELD or its advisors ?
https://www.hellenicdynamics.com/investor/#s5
Pls let the board know what - if anything - you're told.
PS
If - per 5 - HELD only took GBP 350 K (we were told $450K, never mind) and has been repaying 'since October' why only announce a mix of P + I (no breakdown) PARTIAL repayment, 5 months later ?
As I showed in an earlier post, it's arithmetically impossible for HELD to have been repaying instalments in full since October and still only have paid off principal (AND interest) of GBP 90K...which suggests that - at the very least - they're in some kind of 'soft default'./forbearance.
AFAICS
Informed comment (esp disproving/correcting) always welcome!
If - per 4 - the bank (still Piraeus?) is a big supporter (a) why is there no update re status of the loan application and (b) why is there talk of alternative funding?
Point 6 acknowledges that HELD is indeed 'running on fumes'. If RGO is liquidating its portfolio as quickly as it can (per Halland75/Investing Genius), they're hardly likely to disincentivize early payment by imposing a penalty fee, are they? What's the betting HELD will nevertheless use that as a reason for drawing out repayments ?
'There are more questions than answers...and the more we find out, the less we know', it would seem.
Same old, same old...AFAICS
Hi MM,
This joint arrangement - Saudi Inc/ BaoWu - is certainly one of the likeliest outcomes.
Manara has already made its position on offtake clear.
BaoWu, meanwhile, heads up the ore purchasing consortium of Chinese steel mills that is trying to 'break' the historic Australian 'single desk' point-of-sale pricing structure, so is likely also to have strong views on offtake arrangements.
If Saudi/BaoWu are working together, GLEN won't be able to play 'divide and rule' and may have to blink and make concessions on its marketing/royalties offtake 'lock'.
We don't AFAIAA know whether the C-B 10% free carry also includes an entitlement to a corresponding share of offtake, your suggestion that BaoWu/China might have a say in this side of things may be a negotiating point : after all, GLEN/its bankers are also owed unpaid oiltrade finance debt....whether other parties (eg IMF/Paris Club creditors) would agree to hypothecation/credit preference of this type is a further complication.
Wheels within wheels....
GLA and ATB
Ashmore's (brief) latest :
.."Argentina: The monthly economic activity index declined 4.3% yoy in January, an improvement over the 4.5% yoy contraction in December and ahead of survey expectations. The index was boosted by the agricultural sector but saw a decline in manufacturing."
Slowly, slowly...
GLA