Member Info for extrader

Depeches has 3 x articles around the preparations for the 'upcoming' (well, in 2026) elections and what role , if any 'The patriarch' - aka Big Den will play.

One article says 'object of reverence' ; another decries those who speak ill of him; and the third?

Well, .."Kimba calls on Denis Sassou N'Guesso to stand for election

The inhabitants of the district of Kimba, in the Djoué-Léfini department, recently called on the Head of State, Denis Sassou N'Guesso to stand as a candidate in the 2026 presidential election..."

No doubt 'by popular demand'.

This follows a recent re-drawing of provincial boundaries and creation of a number of new provinces.

Ho hum.

Maybe now an irrelevant subplot (?), but here we go :

(1) Congo

https://www.sundanceresources.com.au/irm/pdf

.."The hearing was completed on 17 November 2024. The Company is now waiting on a decision from the ICC which is not expected for approximately a further 6 to 8 months. .."

(2) Cameroon

https://www.sundanceresources.com.au/irm/pdf/13e69a89-09e8-49ca-916c-8f0ea63ee93e/Update-on-Cameroom-Proceedings.pdf

The hearing occurred on 28 January 2025 in Paris between Sundance, its lawyers and independent experts and the ICC tribunal. Cameroon had decided to not pay its lawyers and independent experts therefore there were no Cameroon representatives at the hearing despite Cameroon and its legal

team being fully informed of the proceedings and given every opportunity to attend.

The Company is now waiting on a decision from the ICC tribunal which is not expected for a number of months...."

Litigation began as a result of a cross-border Congo-Cameroon intitiative to expropriate and hand over to a shadowy HK private company Sundance and affiliates' concessions at Mbalam-Nabeba.

The indirect benefit to ZIOC is that it suggests that this cavalier approach won't work nowadays.

GLA

Re FMG, note also that

- it jibbed at Simandou including logistics (expensive, nation-building railway in Guinea);

- it appears at Belinga to have been legged over by logistics (newly proposed expensive, nation-building railway in Gabon);

- an opportunity at Zanaga to REDUCE logistic costs/risks exists in C-B, thanks to the adoption of a slurry pipeline solution that doesn't readily lend itself to 'mission creep'.

As to BaoWu's involvement, well, both RTZ (Simandou etc) and FMG (Australia) are in J/V's with it. Turn the question around, of course, and it might suit BaoWu to work with FMG on a C-B deal that kept FMG going as a market supplier (competing with RTZ for China's business), whilst diversifying its own 'Simandou country risk' ...and drawing C-B further into the China Inc fold.

And GLEN's position? What were those midyear talks about? I can't see GLEN being open to selling its Collahuasi copper; the analysts can't see RTZ bulking up again on coal; as for iron ore - GLEN is mostly a 'dealer' and RTZ mostly a 'digger' : maybe the what-iffery is GLEN relinquishing the mine (that RTZ arguably needs) and lets GLEN keep (some/most of) the marketing rights to the production...especially if the production is in demand and GLEN the trader/seller is an expert at optimising its 'turn' ?

Popcorn at the ready.

GLA

'...maybe even a French/EU play given Marty's connections...'

Check out Plan Mattei and Meloni's recent visit...mainly for the ENI LNG contract but possibly for other things

No shortage of potentially interested parties, for sure.

GLA

I agree that these two MoU's are framework agreements, where others will have to do the heavy lifting.

Their main purpose (as I see it) is to get C-B 'onside' and Strategics involved.

Per the RNS : .."With an installed capacity of 484 MW from its assets located in Côte Matève and Point-Noire, CEC currently supplies more than 70% of the country's electricity demand, benefitting from the vast gas resources developed by Eni Congo. "

C-B is already in energy deficit, there's no way CEC can provide the 300Mw ZIOC said it needed in its 2011 presentation (p 21)

From the 2023 presentation :

Multiple power solutions being developed :

(1) National grid connection (per 2014 FS)

 Plan to use excess power from national grid, as per 2014 FS

THERE IS NO EXCESS POWER.

(2) Hydro Power solutions

 Multiple major Chinese hydro power developers engaged, and

numerous sites identified (image below: July 2023 hydro power

developer site visit)

(3) 2023 page 14 - costings based on 3rd PARTY POWER SUPPLY and contract mining for 1st 5 years.

Even if the power requirements have been refined downward, that's still an (insuperable, IMO) 'ask' of CEC.

My interpretation is that the MoU is to outline the issues and get CEC's consent (a likely requirement of its PPP contract : it may have been granted a monopoly , or 'right of first refusal' on any new large-scale energy provider) to bring in others to make up the shortfall.

As such, it also tells us that C-B Inc (aka Big Den) is in the loop.

In the same way, the Arise MoU gets other interested parties (a) informed and (b) 'no objection (for now).

Mainly serving to reassure Strategics that they're 'green-lighted'.

AIUI

ATB

Hi Feeks,

That's a real 'nice to know ' question!

Some have already disclosed (I think in the 5 to 7m range), it's their call whether to restate.

I'm in the Rolls Royce camp re my own holding : whenever a potential customer asked about the beast's horsepower, the salesmen were allegedly told to answer simply : 'Enough'.

'Make it so!'

HTH and ATB

Hi Jiving,

Good point re timing of PSEI release...and see other PSEI Q's in the earlier BSL post :

.."BSL is the Trahar (Senior)-connected company that did the pelletizing study for ZIOC a few years back that went all quiet.

It's still going strong - see spiffy new website https://bindingsolutions.uk/our-technology/#how-it-works

Its partners include these two :

.."Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) (MinRes) is a leading diversified resources company, with extensive operations in lithium, iron ore, energy and mining services across Western Australia.

Mitsui & Co. Ltd. – a global trading and investment company with a strong and diverse core business portfolio covering the Mineral and Metal Resources, Energy, Machinery and Infrastructure, and Chemicals industries.

Its shareholders think it's on to something too, with rising implied valuations : April 2022 : USD 70 million (Cotec ) ; Feb 2023: USD 104 million (Cotec) ; April 2023 : USD 130 million ( Mitsui).

Apart from Mitsui as a (5.3%) shareholder, BSL also has shareholder/Director connections with GLEN (via Champion Iron Ore Canada (10.35%).

The Memo and Arts of 28 Feb 2022 also suggest there's another (10%) shareholder, whose name meant nothing to me at the time :

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/10394084

"PSEI (Hong Kong) Co. Limited no. 2345667"

After a lot of corporate manoevrings, BSL's current shareholders appear to be :

(1) 31.95% Concord Atlantic Limited, a BVI entity, AFAICS (no obvious Board representation, see below*);

(2) 23.1% Julian Lee, CEO, serial entrepreneur;

(3) 10.5% Direct Tech Solutions, Q: representing rump founder shareholders ?;

(4) 10.35% Champion Innovations Ltd, Dir. Andre Belleau, COO /Proj + Innovations, Champion Iron ore, Canada;

(5) 10% PSEI (HongKong) Co Limited - no obvious directorship, see below*

(6) 5.3% Mitsui Iron Development Pty, (Aus), bought in Mar 2022;

(7) 3.1% Cotec Holdings Corp. , Dir. Julian Treger *, bought shares at implied valuations of USD 70 million and USD 104 million;

Treger is exCEO Anglo Pacific; Cotec's Chair Lucio Genovese is ex-GLEN and Tom Albanese, ex CEO Rio Tinto, ex CEO Vedanta , ex BoD Ivanhoe Mines is a NED;

* despite only having a 3.1% holding, Treger ('activist investor') had @ 2/3/2022 'significant influence or control', so maybe he's fronting for (1) Concord Atlantic and (5) PSEI (HK) above ?

So at BSL, we have GLEN and Mitsui already in the frame...and now, it appears, also PSEI...

Q : The 1 July Results referred to an Optimisation Study (by the Chinese EPC contractor) re the potential to provide further capital and operating cost savings beyond the results of the 2024 FS Update..."

We've identified PSEI as the likely provider of the slurry pipeline and beneficiation plant, is the 'unique technology' in fact BSL's and not its own ?..."

Q: Who's behind Concord Atlantic ???

GLA and ATB

Some earlier BSL-related postings :

.."(1) GLEN is not only connected via convertible and offtake, but has Jyothish George (its former head of iron ore marketing) on Champion's Board;

(2) Champion Iron is one of Binding Solutions' Strategic Partners

https://www.bindingsolutions.uk/partners/

and has Board representation there

https://www.bindingsolutions.uk/person/alexandre-belleau/

Tony Trahar has a shareholding in BSL and was a 'safe pair of hands' interim Director during its corporate restructuring.

(3) The 'greenness' of Kami's ore production will come from hydro, which Quebec has in abundance. Saudi , of course, will have solar.

If the Chinese are serious about Sounda, C-B would also have 'green' electricity (though perhaps better directed initially to serving the populace , rather than industry). Presumably CRBC's hydro would count toward's the Zanaga project's overall 'greenness'....

.............

Interesting development maybe affecting BSL, the novel 'cold pelletisation' co where GLEN, Mitsui and others (incl Trahar Senior and MinMet Australia ) have shareholdings.

A recently resigned BSL director, Julian Treger (who had / has 'significant influence or control', despite his company CoTec only having a 3 % shareholding), has just been sanctioned by the FCA for 'concert party' activity some 15 years ago ....

Rather unusually, BSL's largest shareholder (31%), Bermudan Concord Atlantic, has no Board presence of its own, the suspicion must be that Treger is - or was - its 'front'...."

..."Treger is yet another Lithuanian South African with a flash property :

https://mg.co.za/article/2014-10-02-opulent-beach-houses-and-the-art-of-the-leisure-colonist/

The whole article is worth a read..."

Two further thoughts that have just struck me :

- Tony Trahar is retained by Vision Blue as an adviser; his son Andrew is co-founder. The other co-founder/principal is Mick Davies , exCEO of Xstrata;

- I wonder whether Sir Mick has retained any interest (other than sentimental) in ZIOC ?

Right! Gotta hit the hay - a long day on the building site tomorrow.

GLA and ATB

Momentum? Absolutely.

Here's the DeepL translation of your key observation : .." At the beginning of the year, we completed A BANK-LEVEL FEASIBILITY STUDY UPDATE and conceptual design for a large-scale iron ore mine abroad...", which sounds even closer.

The same translation also showed 2 other snippets of interest :

(1).."Kunming Pace Pipeline Conveying Design Department has designed slurry conveying pipelines in many countries such as China, Australia, CONGO BRAZZAVILLE, Turkey, Uruguay, Cambodia and so on, and the conveying medium involves IRON ORE, PHOSPHATE, POTASH, bauxite, silica, red mud and so on.."

(2) .."The beneficiation plant FEED design for a project in Brazil is basically completed, and validation tests are underway, with all work expected to be completed in 2025..."

So there's a 'pathfinder' version ahead of Zanaga, that will hopefully iron out (geddit?) any wrinkles and be the 'learning curve'.

There's been a lot of grist to mill from this one find, thanks Shaun.

GLA and ATB

Hi Jiving,

Even better, if I understand correctly.

I asked copilot :

Q : What are 'large central companies' when talking business in China?

A: When discussing business in China, "large central companies" typically refer to the major state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that are controlled by the Central Government. These companies play a significant role in the Chinese economy and are often involved in key industries such as energy, telecommunications, finance, and infrastructure. Some examples of these large central companies include:

State Grid Corporation of China: The largest electric power company in the world.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC): A major oil and gas company.

Sinopec: Another leading oil and gas company.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC): The largest bank in the world by total assets.

China Construction Bank: One of the largest banks in China.

China Mobile: The largest telecommunications company in China.

These companies are often referred to as "central" because they are directly overseen by the Central Government through entities like the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) "

And it's good to see at the end : .." All parties are very active and attach importance to project investment financing. "

GLA and ATB

Great find, Shaun !

.."and the supporting cold-colding ball technology will also be recognized by the owner.."

From context, I think 'recognised' means 'adopted by' the Project owner...and that the technology is BSL's , see https://www.bindingsolutions.uk/

Its process - https://www.bindingsolutions.uk/process/ - of 'cold agglomerated pellets' fits the description of 'cold-colding ball technology'.

And look at the advertised benefits :

(1)Environmental

BSL’s cold agglomeration technology replaces traditional sintering and induration processes, which involve heating primary materials to 1,000° C or more. By replacing high temperature processing we can drive significant reductions of:

-up to 80% in energy usage ; up to 70% in carbon dioxide (CO2e) emissions; and

-up to 86% in capex.....

(2) Commercial

Our technology delivers significant commercial benefits for miners and pellet producers by:

-Upgrading fines into higher value products that meet industry specifications (ISO), cutting waste and enabling production from previously uneconomic deposits

-Delivering very large reductions in capex of up to 86% per 1 Mtpa of production

-Enabling rapid scalability through our modular processing approach

-Ability to build a cost-effective small scale plant

(3) Performance

Our cold agglomerated pellets deliver performance improvements over indurated pellets in the steel furnace:

-Greater productivity as the reduction point is achieved more rapidly

-Improved operational stability by cutting levels of fine waste material.."

IF it 'does what it says on the tin' , BSL should be able to turn Zanaga's already prized iron ore into gold.....

'Despacito' = to dance slowly with someone, while getting very close.

GLA and ATB

Peter Ker is the AFR resources reporter on the articles we've both quoted ...and is the guy I wrote to today.

My email was primarily related to FMG and its acknowledged 'blending' requirement - now it would seem frustrated by the Belinga standstill - but mentioned in the context of a broader Australian miner issue re how to deal with an industry-wide 'Pilbara rust' problem.

The 'green hydrogen' solution faces economic and technological (and now Trumpian) headwinds, affecting not only principal exponent FMG, but also BHP and RTZ, with their alternative BlueScope partnered ESF PILOT plant.

FMG has now (significantly, since last summer/autumn) experienced 'country risk' at first hand with Belinga and is in a deeper hole (was my thesis); but it's highlighted a lesser, but significant' 'dependency risk' for RTZ with Simandou (where production may in any case be insufficient to satisfy eventual demand).

I closed with

.."Disclosure : I have no financial interest either way in FMG/Fortescue, my interest is in Zanaga Iron Ore (ZIOC) in Gabon's neighbour Congo-Brazzaville, which has an overlooked (IMO) Simandou-sized resource and project that is ripe for development...and may be an alternative source of high-grade ore for the Australian industry.

I'd be interested in your thoughts - either back to me or in any article that you may write, prompted by the above..."

I think we're singing very much from the same hymn-sheet (if at times a little discordantly) !

I'll be interested to see if Ker 'bites' (he may of course conceivably be under some kind of NDA already) and will share anything of interest received. Nothing from any of the others so far.

GLA and ATB

Https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/expect-more-big-global-mining-deals-says-former-anglo-american-chief-20250201-p5l8uc

'Expect more'.

Says host countries - and their populations - are more savvy/aware and are the priority for engagement.

Mentions as examples Rio in Guinea and FMG in Gabon.

Curious : is he (or the journalist) unaware of the reported cooling-off of the latter ? Or is the Belinga situation seen as just another/an inebitable 'bump in the road'?

I feel another letter to the editor coming on...

GLA

This might be politically risky :

."

FT: Javier Milei pins dream of privatising Argentine football on one club US investor’s pursuit of a stake in Estudiantes fuels push to overhaul non-profit model

Interesting article on current business model (member-owned) and pros and cons of suggested change.

Milei (good photo of him as a tousle-haired young player) thinks it's worth the risk :

“Football is everything in Argentina,” he said. “If Milei can say ‘I’ve changed football’, then he’ll feel he’s proven to society that he was right about private capital and deregulation being our saviour.”

GLA

Thanks LOTM.

Hi LOTM,

Is this a typo? An increase of 10 in 20,282 doesn't seem material to me.

TIA

Hi Hardboy

Unfortunately, I think SRT may have damaged its business prospects by referring to 'actionable' information about suspect vessel movement : the coast guard may be interested, the issue seems to be : what to do then with the info ?

Following that train of thought, I wonder whether prospects in America's back yard - the Caribbean and Panama, for example - might recently have improved?

This is a business question, not a political one, btw !

;->

GLA

Touche.

And what if they all attended...and MPD hadn't??

For present discussion purposes, is MPD Schrodinger's cat ?

GLA

PS I forgot

(e) Feb 5 is the day Big Den is going to be feted as 'Father of the Nation' by the party he 'founded' , the PCT Congolese Workers Party.

See earlier 'ego has landed' post for details.

ATB

Hi atg,

It's an interesting thought process :

First, we got excited about MPD attendance at Indaba.

Then, we got less excited, when it seemed this was routine.

Then, we remained unexcited, when it turned out that AI may have been hallucinating...and MPD's attendance was (it would seem) indeed unusual.

So, back where we started ...but.....is MPD attendance 'interesting' or not?

I still think it is given

(a) it may indeed be a first; if so, why, esp if event is expensive and cash is limited;

(b) the timing relative to AT's milestones statement and the 11th Feb Investor Event;

(c) location : South Africa, Elphick/Guava shareholders' back yard;

(d) luminaries attending : ADB, AFC (shareholder in Arise); Anglo; JOGMEC; RTZ; Saudi Min of Mines (parent of Ma'aden).

I hedged my original comments 'make of that what you will'.

That comment still stands !

ATB and GLA