Gordon Stein, CFO of CleanTech Lithium, explains why CTL acquired the 23 Laguna Verde licenses. Watch the video here.
.."Banco believe it will happen othrrwise their name would not be in an rns..."
Normally, I'd say 'fair point'.
But several companies have been 'mentioned in despatches ' - Quadrivio, our Middle Easterners etc - that subsequently fiddled out.
Maybe 'this time it's different'.
Agreed. Maybe.
GLA
Thanks for the link, MM, a couple of observations :
.."Oman has started construction of what could be the world’s largest green steel plant that plans to use iron ore from Cameroon.." if true, suggests that Vale may be shopping around elsewhere.
Perhaps Mbalam-Nabeba ?
https://www.mining.com/web/cameroon-to-start-building-railway-to-disputed-iron-ore-project-in-august/
.."The US has been actively brokering Saudi, Emirati and Qatari investment in riskier jurisdictions, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where western companies struggle to enter, in order to keep China out, according to executives from mining companies and trading houses, as well as a senior US government official..."
When elephants fight, the ants get crushed.
DRC is more obviously 'strategic' , but C-B - as you've pointed out - appears to be in China's camp. Could the US act as a spoiler...or as another contender ?
.."the kingdom aims to secure copper, IRON ORE , lithium and nickel from overseas for processing domestically through Manara Minerals, a joint venture established last year between Ma’aden and the Public Investment Fund. In return for minority investments into established operations run by blue-chip companies such as BHP and Rio Tinto, it aims to receive metals supply — a model Japanese trading houses have successfully deployed for decades..."
Describes the Zanaga situation to a T...
.."Much like the Chinese, the Gulf states are promising resource-rich nations an investment package centred around mining; Zambia expects the UAE to invest in agriculture, tourism and energy..."
AD has a recently launched Africa -specific solar energy fund through Masdar, we already know that DXB offers useful banking facilities.
All helping the 'mood music', IMO
GLA
I suspect that having anyone (outsider) doing potentially price- sensitive work on ZIOC's concession would be an RNSable development, surely?
GLA
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 (! ;-
Oops!
Links to (2) at end of article.
I blame the post-run beers, me'sen.
(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.
Li Yin's recent road trip included Mengo in Koilou dept., site of another Chinese- run potash project that is AFAICS also 'in the works', and is even closer to PN than KP2.
The Evergreen - backed project IIRC.
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