Member Info for extrader

..."If they did, that would be end of Simandou as the mining community + US Govt + capital markets would destroy any and all Govt of Guinea efforts to export and sell ANY form of meaningful products on world market..."

'ANY'....I made the mistake of taking you literally, now I see you can't be taken seriously either: when I rebut your point with a simple example, you change the argument.

That's straightforward intellectual dishonesty.

QED

Certainly should help the port to achieve 'critical mass'.

Skimming the RNS, I see that the new finance proposal details include non-dilutive royalty financing and Shariah- compliant funding.

Could 99 icecream, Mitch 984, atg and / or others familiar with KP2 share any other insights on this C-B project that may be relevant (positive or negative) to ZIOC?

Have the Chinese been relegated in some way? How helpful have the C-B authorities been? Is there a Govt free carry etc...

TIA !

Barclays has provided a substitute guarantee, per the RNS.

There's no 'advance' = cash- involved AFAICS, so that tells us nothing about whether any contract income will be recognised this financial year.

All still to play for, IMO.

.."Do you honest to Big Man Above think that the Guinea Govt are going to privatise Simandou any time soon given the FDI for project is between $10 - 15 billion USD ???.."

https://www.marinelink.com/news/guinea-bauxite-sockpile-nears-million-526190

..."Emirates Global Aluminium's (EGA) subsidiary in Guinea has accumulated a stockpile of nearly two million metric tonnes of bauxite since the suspension of its operations last year, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

EGA, equally owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, and Dubai sovereign wealth fund the Investment Corporation of Dubai, operates one of the largest bauxite mines in Guinea through its Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) subsidiary.

The standoff with Guinea's government highlights the aggressive push by the military authorities to increase benefits from the country's vast natural resources as the world's largest bauxite producer leverages its position in aluminium supply chains to force downstream processing commitments.

The company has been in a dispute with the government since October last year when its GAC bauxite exports, and mining operations were later suspended by the authorities.

Reuters reported earlier this month that the government has launched a process to withdraw EGA's mining licence over its failure to build an alumina refinery..."

QED

I hope you'll have the intellectual integrity to apologise (to the board, not me) for (yet again) demonstrating your manifest lack of understanding of the situation.

.."Argentina: President Javier Milei has seen his approval ratings rise after he took the bold step of removing long-standing controls on the foreign currency exchange market. Former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) announced she will run for a legislative seat in the powerful province of Buenos Aires. With a pending court ruling in place, CFK is unable to run for elections. If she is allowed to run, it is likely she will split the Peronist Party in Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, former President Mauricio Macri's party is exploring an alliance with President Milei's party to consolidate the non-Peronist vote.

On the policy front, the Lower House passed a bill to significantly increase pension payments. Milei vowed to veto the bill, as per prior populist moves by Congress, and the opposition does not have enough votes to override him. The government remains focused on attracting large-scale foreign investment through a new incentive programme, particularly in the mining and energy sectors..."

GLA

Article begins

."..Guinea risks threaten Simandou

Less than six months before the forecast first shipment of iron ore from the high-grade Simandou project Rio Tinto has been told that that it faces the risk of a crown jewel being nationalised by the government of Guinea. The warning comes from Morgans, an Australian stockbroking firm, at a time when Rio Tinto is locked in a legal dispute with the government of Mongolia over its prize Oyu Tolgoi copper project, and as it starts the search for a new chief executive....'

Rio probably knows better than a broker, but even so.

Morgans may not be on Rio's Xmas card list this year, whether the story has legs or not.

....as if on cue, Mining Journal carries a broker Morgan article (behind paywall) claiming that Guinea is joining the ranks of nations being more assertive re mining rights and compliance with concession terms.

Time to hedge your beta, guys?

GLA

Today's news removes the threat of some dilution from OI picking up shares automatically at a discount.

If it wants more, it'll have to pick them up in the 'open' market.

GLA

To Jiving's 16:18 re money for Africa, this has just broken :

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/congo-secures-dollar1-billion-from-world-bank-to-revive-worlds-largest-hydropower/6w9xwx1

The World Bank is heavily influenced by the United States, both structurally and historically :

Largest Shareholder: The U.S. is the biggest financial contributor to the World Bank and holds veto power over structural changes.

Presidential Appointments: Every World Bank president has been a U.S. citizen, with the exception of Kristalina Georgieva’s brief acting presidency.

Policy Influence: The U.S. government has consistently shaped the Bank’s development priorities, often aligning them with American economic and geopolitical interests.

Recent Reforms: The U.S. Treasury Secretary recently announced plans to push for major institutional changes, reinforcing America’s leadership role in the Bank.

All grist to the mill, AFAICS. It would be nice for ZIOC to have lots of electricity nearby.

This link shows - or should show - in some helpful detail, the various players in this Guinea/Liberia mining saga...

https://www.africa-energy.com/news-centre/article/hpx-plans-liberty-corridor-rail-link-guinean-mine-liberian-coast#:~:text=to%20Liberian%20coast-,HPX%20plans%20'Liberty%20Corridor'%20rail%20link%20from,Guinean%20mine%20to%20Liberian%20coast&text=Privately%2Dheld%20miner%20High%20Power,along%20the%20Yekepa%2DBuchanan%20corridor.

GLA

The plot thickens.

(1) It seems that Arcelor Mittal's ore exports from Guinea via Liberia have been on Liberia's Yekepa-Buchanan railway, which AM Liberia operated under long-term agreements.

(2) Ivanhoe Atlantic ( a Friedland vehicle) has been angling for multi-user access to this railway - suitably upgraded aka the Liberty Corridor - so it can exploit its Nimba concession. It has been pressuring/strong-arming the Liberians to agree, getting Trump's son-in-law US State Dept head for Africa to 'urge' the Liberians to approve the change in operatorship.

This strong-arming is not without opposition

https://thenewdawnliberia.com/ivanhoe-and-hpx-abandon-5-billion-liberty-corridor-vision/

The situation appears unresolved.

(3) Meanwhile, there's a ZIOC connection to Liberia in that new Director Phil Mitchell is / was CFO of HPX / Ivanhoe Atlantic (and previously Simandou's logistics SMFG head for Rio Tinto).

He's also currently Chair at I-rox, which uses pulsed power technology to enable low-energy rock fragmentation and efficient mineral extraction.

See https://i-rox.com/about/

" In Liberia, this technology is being explored for applications in iron ore beneficiation and resource recovery, particularly as demand for higher-grade ore grows."

(4) ZIOC's 20pct offtaker GIS is a bit of a mystery - an off-the shelf incorporation shortly before the recent buy-in, just " a consortium of strategic industry entities seeking to develop integrated steel facilities supplied by high-grade pellet feed iron ore to THE AMERICAS and the Middle East ."

Why the mention of 'the Americas' ? Not an 'obvious' destination for Zanaga's product.

(5) I'd always bracketed Ivanhoe's Friedland as ' Canadian mining ventures' but it appears that he holds dual nationality—he is both American (born in Chicago) and Canadian.

I wonder which party/parties amongst the new investors Mitchell speaks for?

ATB

You misunderstand : it's nice to have £1.65m to spend; to have 7 x family members who all get along well enough to live together; and to have come up with the idea in the first place....

'Wealth' takes many forms!

ATB

A lot depends on who each shareholder has willed his/her shares to.

And you shouldn't assume that you'd be the first to shuffle off : Fate is no respector of seniority.

IANAL, though, so I'd consult one.

A 'nice' problem to have!

ATB

....and also that ZIOC has on Board Phil Mitchell, CFO of I-Pulse, a Friedland investment vehicle.

"I-Pulse has a presence in Liberia through its major shareholder, Ivanhoe Atlantic. Ivanhoe Atlantic is involved in mining and infrastructure projects in the region, including initiatives related to Liberia’s multi-user rail system."

I-Pulse’s pulsed power technology is transforming mining by enabling low-energy rock fragmentation and efficient mineral extraction. In Liberia, this technology is being explored for applications in iron ore beneficiation and resource recovery, particularly as demand for higher-grade ore grows.

I-Pulse's technology delivers

-Selective Fragmentation: Breaks ore efficiently without excessive energy use, reducing waste.

-Ore Sorting & Upgrading: Improves ore quality by separating valuable minerals from gangue.

-Environmental Benefits: Lowers carbon footprint and tailings volume.

All with useful read-across to ZIOC, I imagine.

Interesting to note that Ivanhoe's Robert Friedland holds dual nationality—he is both American and Canadian.

And that "Gulf Iron and Steel (GIS), [is] a consortium of strategic industry entities seeking to develop integrated steel facilities supplied by high-grade pellet feed iron ore to THE AMERICAS and the Middle East ."

Hmm.

GLA

..'after' = 'before'...

Hope so, Jiving!

the proposed Liberty rail (cf Lobito) expansion; Ivanhoe's interest; and US historic relationship/ recent US supportive comments by Trump's son in law may also have helped...

Liberia's history includes an influx of African Americans who moved there after the Civil War, IIRC.

ATB

You may well be right : most of the recent travel ban countries also feature on the US list of illegal overstayers - C-B was second highest (@ 29.6%) amongst the African nations, Chad the highest @ 40%.

DRC didn't figure at all.

Worth noting, meanwhile, from this old (2019) AFR article

https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/sir-mick-davis-puts-niron-iron-ore-play-on-the-right-track-20190423-p51gjl

(1)..." ArcelorMittal's Nimba mine was previously owned by BHP. In 2014, ArcelorMittal acquired a 56.5% stake in the Mount Nimba iron ore project from BHP and Areva. The deposit is high-quality, with 935 million tonnes of direct shipping ore (DSO) at an average grade of 63.5% Fe.

BHP had been trying to offload Nimba for several years before the sale."

(2) .." Sir Mick Davis's [Niron/Zogota project] has made rapid-fire progress. Last Friday Niron confirmed the signing of an MoU with the Liberian government that paves the way for access to rail and port access for Zogota iron ore.

Sir Mick, WHO TRIED AND FAILED TO MAKE HIS WAY BACK TO MININGS' MAINSTREAM by acquiring stressed assets through the post-China boom crash, announced the deal as a milestone in progress and said a feasibility study on Zogota would be completed in six months.

What makes this relevant to Australian investors is that both our locally listed super-major miners have long-established iron ore interests in Guinea and IT IS FRANKLY HARD TO BELIEVE THAN AN ENTREPRENEUR SUCH AS SIR MICK MIGHT END UP CONTAINING HIS INTEREST IN IRON ORE TO A 5 MILLION TO 10 MILLION TPA PROSPECT LIKE ZOGOTA..."

By late 2023, Sir Mick had left Niron.....having set up his next venture, Vision Blue Resources in late 2021, with ZIOC's Andrew Trahar as co-founder.

He's spent a lot of time post his exit from Xstrata after its takeover by GLEN (in 2013) hunting for other 'elephants', initially with his $5.2Bn funded X2 Resources , which was unwound a few years later after failing to secure any deals.

We haven't heard much (if anything) about Sir Mick's exact shareholding in ZIOC AFAIAA or his precise role in the 'new team', but from this article it looks as though he's likely one of the 'drivers'...with Niron and X2 Resources behind him, maybe he sees Zanaga as a case of 3rd time lucky?

ATB

Fair do's !

Though you can't blame the journalist for getting things wrong - the Arcelor briefing note must have been confusing :

.."According to ArcelorMittal Liberia, the concentrator is mechanically complete and undergoing wet commissioning. When operational, it will upgrade lower-grade hematite ore containing 35 to 37 percent iron into a premium magnetite concentrate exceeding 66 percent iron content. .."

https://frontpageafricaonline.com/news/liberia-arcelormittals-executive-chairmanlakshmi-mittal-arrives-in-liberia-to-commission-countrys-first-iron-ore-concentrator/

Https://allafrica.com/stories/202506060142.html

Liberia: Boakai, Mittal Launch $1.8bn Iron Ore Plant in Nimba

.."The iron ore at ArcelorMittal's Nimba project in Liberia undergoes beneficiation to significantly improve its quality. The raw hematite ore, which has an iron content of 35–37% Fe, is upgraded to a high-grade magnetite concentrate with over 66% Fe. Additionally, the expansion project [ 5 >20mtpa] aims to produce 64–65% Fe ore for the global steel market..."

GLA