Member Info for extrader

GLEN's country manager Congo , Florent Lager, Pres of the Congo Federation of Basic minerals (recently awarded 3m ZIOC shares @ 7.5p), joins a roundtable in Paris (Ambition Africa : 1500 delegates from 43 countries) alongside Bruno Itoua, Minister of Hydrocarbons; the Country Manager of Sibanye - Stillwater, and the Marketing head of Imerys, to discuss......

' Extractive industries: towards transparency and inclusiveness’.

https://www.adiac-congo.com/content/forum-ambition-africa-la-6e-edition-sest-tenue-paris-161240

Per depeches

.."The panellists highlighted the requirement for the publication of ITIE (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) reports, including full disclosure of state revenues from the extractive industries, as well as the disclosure of all significant payments made to the government by oil, gas and mining companies.

.." The Congolese minister took the opportunity to point out that this already exists and that the publication of these reports is done. It provides access to the information that any interested party needs and they know how the revenue has been used...."

.."In the Republic of Congo, the oil sector contributes 70% of the country's wealth;

60% of the country's budget, and at least 50% of the country's exports. ‘It is the

resource that we distribute to the benefit of the entire population through the budget voted by Parliament, representing the people. It follows that the people have all the means to influence the way in which the revenues of this natural resource are allocated to the national budget. This also applies to the cash inflows from forestry, of course.

At the end of the day it's the local people who are the beneficiaries’, he explained , insisting that it's up to the representatives of the people to make sure that the benefits are shared equitably."

.." It's not by handing out gifts, it's not by doing humanitarian gestures, it's not by listening to special interests, it's certainly not the way we're going to be able to achieve the desired result ‘he says indignantly. He added that if 40, 50, 60% of the population could benefit from part of the oil, mining mining and forestry activity, ‘it would have a greater impact, to

improve their living conditions, by providing them with the means to solve their problems , much better than the ad hoc help they get from time to time, if we take collective action as part of our responsibility to society’.

Interesting topic, interesting timing : Itoua's vocal endorsement of transparency and fiscal rectitude is welcome. He is from Big Den's M'bochi Mafia and has long been considered fairly corrupt himself, see

offshoreleaks.icij.org/stories/bruno-jean-richard-itoua

Footnote 2 : another speaker was from Imerys, amongst other things makers of bentonite, a binder used in iron ore pelletising.

Maybe more straws in the wind...

GLA and ATB

GLEN's country manager Congo , Florent Lager, Pres of the Congo Federation of Basic minerals (recently awarded 3m ZIOC shares @ 7.5p), joins a roundtable in Paris (Ambition Africa : 1500 delegates from 43 countries) alongside Bruno Itoua, Minister of Hydrocarbons; the Country Manager of Sibanye - Stillwater, and the Marketing head of Imerys, to discuss......

' Extractive industries: towards transparency and inclusiveness’.

https://www.adiac-congo.com/content/forum-ambition-africa-la-6e-edition-sest-tenue-paris-161240

Per depeches

.."The panellists highlighted the requirement for the publication of ITIE (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) reports, including full disclosure of state revenues from the extractive industries, as well as the disclosure of all significant payments made to the government by oil, gas and mining companies.

.." The Congolese minister took the opportunity to point out that this already exists and that the publication of these reports is done. It provides access to the information that any interested party needs and they know how the revenue has been used...."

.."In the Republic of Congo, the oil sector contributes 70% of the country's wealth;

60% of the country's budget, and at least 50% of the country's exports. ‘It is the

resource that we distribute to the benefit of the entire population through the budget voted by Parliament, representing the people. It follows that the people have all the means to influence the way in which the revenues of this natural resource are allocated to the national budget. This also applies to the cash inflows from forestry, of course.

At the end of the day it's the local people who are the beneficiaries’, he explained , insisting that it's up to the representatives of the people to make sure that the benefits are shared equitably."

.." It's not by handing out gifts, it's not by doing humanitarian gestures, it's not by listening to special interests, it's certainly not the way we're going to be able to achieve the desired result ‘he says indignantly. He added that if 40, 50, 60% of the population could benefit from part of the oil, mining mining and forestry activity, ‘it would have a greater impact, to

improve their living conditions, by providing them with the means to solve their problems , much better than the ad hoc help they get from time to time, if we take collective action as part of our responsibility to society’.

Interesting topic, interesting timing : Itoua's vocal endorsement of transparency and fiscal rectitude is welcome. He is from Big Den's M'bochi Mafia and has long been considered fairly corrupt himself, see

offshoreleaks.icij.org/stories/bruno-jean-richard-itoua

Footnote 2 : another speaker was from Imerys, amongst other things makers of bentonite, a binder used in iron ore pelletising.

Maybe more straws in the wind...

GLA and ATB

Little Den tweets about some UAE visitors to the SEZ at Mouloukou (Arise?) and interest in site infrastructure installation;

Big Den inaugurates introduction of 5G MTN system. Lots of coverage. Partly finance by 5 year $ 100m facility from World Bank.

Min of Infrastructure inaugurates Hilton chain assumption of management of Twin Towers hotel complex in Brazzaville. Hilton already runs a DoubleTree in PN, in case anyone's thinking of visiting (I might).

Two bits that may mean something (or may not):

(1 ) it's described as a PPP (Little Den's fiefdom). Local party is Société d’exploitation et de développement des infrastructures du Congo (Sedic), ownership not clear.

(2) the contract was signed back on 24th March 2024, is only announced today...

ATB

Hi alwayshoping,

(1) Thanks for taking part - and I'm always happy to be proved wrong to the upside, which you argue well.

At your price you could probably afford your own helicopter ;->

(2) I'm pushing the Biblical three-score and ten and am now just shy of the 2 hour mark (+/-) that I used to achieve regularly until 4 years ago (Covid).

My time increased to 2:50 immediately thereafter, improved gradually to the point where my recent max/min goal was 2:15 to 2:25, so v happy to finish well under.

It helps that I'm fortuitously now living in a place that has a lot of serious (now middle-aged = 60-75) runners : one has 70 marathons under 2:20 to his name; another was a 4:10 miler 'back in the day'; another reflected wryly that his best 'full' time 30 years ago was faster than a (still respectable) recent half....

Puts my efforts in perspective !

I'll share more at Abergele, if /when it happens (Driving?) !

ATB

Hi alwayshoping,

(1) Thanks for taking part - and I'm always happy to be proved wrong to the upside, which you argue well.

At your price you could probably afford your own helicopter ;->

(2) I'm pushing the Biblical three-score and ten and am now just shy of the 2 hour mark (+/-) that I used to achieve regularly until 4 years ago (Covid).

My time increased to 2:50 immediately thereafter, improved gradually to the point where my recent max/min goal was 2:15 to 2:25, so v happy to finish well under.

It helps that I'm fortuitously now living in a place that has a lot of serious (now middle-aged = 60-75) runners : one has 70 marathons under 2:20 to his name; another was a 4:10 miler 'back in the day'; another reflected wryly that his best 'full' time 30 years ago was faster than a (still respectable) recent half....

I'll share more at Abergele, if it happens (Driving?) !

ATB

Awesome!

See also this

https://indi.ca/how-china-starts-printing-usd/

with (for me) very helpful graphics and some further thoughts on implications and underlying concepts - particularly the real mechanism of 'economic imperialism'.

Any USD indebted, resource-rich country will potentially have a way out of its debt trap.

And little ol' ZIOC seems to be right at the intersection....possibly even the pre-inauguration 'test firing' ?

GLA and ATB

.." they have the ability to delist and take the company private..."

(1) If that were the case, why wouldn't they have done this already?

(2) Given what's potentially at stake, that would put GLEN- as a listed multinational - in a very tricky legal situation (which litigation financiers would compete ferociously to take on); and be very damaging to citizen Elphick's reputation and standing in S Africa and elsewhere.

Note that even C-B - a backwater if ever there was one - is belatedly getting its house in order after years of doing something similar (expropriation without compensation).

AFAICS

Hi all,

A couple of articles on China's recent USD bond issue that could eventually come into play in Argentina :

hxxps://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1859446480198828360

Arnaud Bertrand on X: "The story around China issuing USD-denominated sovereign bonds in Saudi Arabia is generating an enormous amount of buzz in China, and could potentially be immensely important. I strongly suspect it's a message to the upcoming Trump administration. Let me explain what seems to" / X

and

hxxps://indi.ca/how-china-starts-printing-usd/

The BTL comments show some of the implications, esp for any country with lots of USD obligations...and lots of natural resources...

The potential end of USD hegemony...

GLA and ATB

.."Big Den may be a thug , but he's no fool..."

In fact, in diplomatic terms , he punches well above his / C-B's weight/prominence:

(1) CoChair of FOCAC 2024-2027(China);

(2) Chairman of the African Union's High Level Committee on Libya , note : https://en.minbarlibya.org/2024/03/10/strategic-shifts-the-uaes-evolving-role-in-the-libyan-dossier/

.."Libya is an indispensable component of the UAE’s aspiration to act as a commercial conduit between China and Western nations...."

(3) 'Besties' with Lula of Brazil, dating back to 1st presidency

.."Lula v2 gears up for first major African tour

This summer the Brazilian president is likely to visit South Africa, Nigeria and Sao Tomé and Congo, where Sassou Nguesso is keen to have him participate in his forest summit. [...]

Published on 09/03/2023

(4) As former Chair (twice) of the African Union, he was due to head up the delegation to Putin proposing peace discussions Russia/Ukraine, when distracted by the AD Ports Concession agreement process.

This delegation was the creation of Jean Yves Ollivier, who also proposed Big Den as intermediary / broker of the Brazzaville Protocol that ultimately saw Cuba leave Angola and S Africa dismantle apartheid, see

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-peace-plan-africa-jean-yves-ollivier-1801510

He's also been recognised for past mediation in conflicts in the Central African Republic and Guinea Bissau and has latterly become prominent on the world stage for his climate/biosphere advocacy.

So far he's managed to play one side off against the other(s), will he continue to do so?

GLA

(1) In hxxps://ecomatin.net/secteur-minier-le-congo-en-quete-de-partenaires-pour-le-lancement-dun-fonds-dinvestissement-minier, we read inter alia

..".. in August 2024, the Turkish company Ulsan Mining signed a mining agreement to exploit the Mayoko-Moussondji iron ore deposit for 25 years, FORMERLY MANAGED by the Sapro group, owned by Brazzaville tycoon Paul Obambi..."

the mine involved was subsequently confirmed here

https://www.finances.gouv.cg/fr/node/4484

.."THE CONGOLESE GOVERNMENT AND THE TURKISH COMPANY ULSAN MINING CONGO SIGN AN IRON MINING AGREEMENT IN MAYOKO

12 August, 2024

.."..Ulsan Mining Congo has obtained from the Congolese State an exploitation permit for this deposit for a period of 25 years. This exploitation concerns the iron deposit called Mayoko-Moussondji. This is a WORLD CLASS IRON MINE, which the Republic of Congo has...."

The Obambi connection described in (1) is wrong : his company Sapro Mayoko has the concession for Mayoko Lekoumou, acquired from Exxaro. This is a different, lower ore quality mine.

Mayoko Moussondji, the mine that Ulsan has taken over, is ex Equatorial Resources, passed to Congo Mining/Midus and currently the subject of litigation for expropriation, cf the Sundance Resources claim agst C-B (and Cameroon) for Mbalam-Nabeba expropriation.

Africa Intelligence confirms this, saying that

.."Pierre Oba's battle with Australian miners drags on

The Congolese minister of mines is dealing with three separate arbitration proceedings over the withdrawal in late 2020 of the mining permits of Sundance Resources, Avima Iron Ore and Equatorial Resources..."

The Ulsan deal comes around the same time (August/Sept 2024), that C-B approached Sundance to talk settlement, suggesting a change of approach, most likely following a change of legal advisers, per

.."Sassou axes his legal task force

It has been disbanded after a string of failures. [...]

Published on 03/10/2024 at 05:40 GMT

These developments - and the contemporaneous creation of the 'carried interests holdingco' FIMC - suggest an (enforced) clearing of decks/tidying up of one's act/image, AFAICS.

All good stuff.

In other news,

Congo

With the fall of Denis Gokana, Hydrocarbons Minister Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua strengthens his position

The president's special adviser on oil for more than 25 years, Gokana has been replaced by Stev Simplice Onanga, a close associate of the minister for hydrocarbons. It is a rare reshuffle within Denis Sassou-Nguesso's entourage. [...]

Published on 18/11/2024

..."this is a fresh indication of the head of state's capacity to exploit internal strife as a means of exercising his authority. [...]"

Published on 20/11/2024 at 05:40 GMT

and strengthen's the M'bouchi tribe's grip on the levers of power....and the flows of money.

Big Den may be a thug , but he's no fool.

AFAICS

Hi all,

At the risk of giving a hostage to fortune, I thought it would be timely to re-visit this topic, given developments since the sweep was launched in June 2023.

To re-cap, the idea is that folk (1) determine their price prediction for take-out; (2) rank themselves in price order; (3) nominate their chosen charity; and (4) what %age of their 'life-changing' lottery win they would be willing to donate...TO THE CHARITY* NOMINATED BY THE PLAYER CLOSEST TO THE FINAL TAKEOUT PRICE.

In the event of a tie, the 2 charities equidistant from the end-price to share the spoils.

*Many contenders have chosen Congolese charities as beneficiaries, which given the benighted lives of most of the citizenry seems eminently appropriate.

To add a bit of spice, I note that 2 so-far non-participants have recently opined as follows :

Jiving- a 'cautious' 318p (50% discount to assessment 636p) ; and MinorMiner - a bullish 840p and a 'let's split the difference' 555p.

I'll stick with my original 200p...but for context recently ran a half-marathon 10 mins inside my predicted 'max goal', so WTFDIK ?

Here's the line-up so far :

82p GTA5 U24.GOV.UA 5%

100p Tommo1985 Cats Protection 1%

120p SolomonB BirthLink 2%

138p cheets2 Christie Hospital 10%

141p Driving Christian Aid/Congo 5%

185p ShrewdDude67 Macmillan 2%

199p Veteran10 ?Charity? ? % Pls complete

200p extrader Alzheimer Research 2%

225p Iceman MND Research 2%

230p AberdeenMan Macmillan 2%

236p sadako Katie Piper Foundation / Fundacion Amor y Esperanza 1% each

250p TheDealBreaker Hinckley Homeless 1%

285p HappySwinner Alzheimer Research ?% Pls complete

342p nibj ?Congo humanitarian 5%

420p Rafaley Cancer Research/ St Peters Hospice 1% each

It'll be interesting to see whether/how predictions are updated ('when the facts change, etc...') and I hope folk who've been silent *so far will join in, for THIS range of 'good causes' ...or their own.

*alwayshoping ? beardozer ?

GLA and ATB

Hi all,

At the risk of giving a hostage to fortune, I thought it would be timely to re-visit this topic, given developments since the sweep was launched in June 2023.

To re-cap, the idea is that folk (1) determine their price prediction for take-out; (2) rank themselves in price order; (3) nominate their chosen charity; and (4) what %age of their 'life-changing' lottery win they would be willing to donate...TO THE CHARITY* NOMINATED BY THE PLAYER CLOSEST TO THE FINAL TAKEOUT PRICE.

In the event of a tie, the 2 charities equidistant from the end-price to share the spoils.

*Many contenders have chosen Congolese charities as beneficiaries, which given the benighted lives of most of the citizenry seems eminently appropriate.

To add a bit of spice, I note that 2 so-far non-participants have recently opined as follows :

Jiving- a 'cautious' 318p (50% discount to assessment 636p) ; and MinorMiner - a bullish 840p and a 'let's split the difference' 555p.

I'll stick with my original 200p...but for context recently ran a half-marathon 10 mins inside my predicted 'max goal', so WTFDIK ?

Here's the line-up so far :

82p GTA5 U24.GOV.UA 5%

100p Tommo1985 Cats Protection 1%

120p SolomonB BirthLink 2%

138p cheets2 Christie Hospital 10%

141p Driving Christian Aid/Congo 5%

185p ShrewdDude67 Macmillan 2%

199p Veteran10 ?Charity? ? % Pls complete

200p extrader Alzheimer Research 2%

225p Iceman MND Research 2%

230p AberdeenMan Macmillan 2%

236p sadako Katie Piper Foundation / Fundacion Amor y Esperanza 1% each

250p TheDealBreaker Hinckley Homeless 1%

285p HappySwinner Alzheimer Research ?% Pls complete

342p nibj ?Congo humanitarian 5%

420p Rafaley Cancer Research/ St Peters Hospice 1% each

It'll be interesting to see whether/how predictions are updated ('when the facts change, etc...') and I hope folk who've been silent *so far will join in, for THIS range of 'good causes' ...or their own.

*alwayshoping ? beardozer ?

GLA and ATB

.."Sensible Strategics would pay whatever Elphick wants to get rid of us pesky PIs..."

That's been the case for some time, certainly after the 1st July circus (last chance for the promoter friends to buy in, IMO) - the lack of information flow/engagement has been an issue for all - or most - of us for some time.

So welcome to the club!

We've experienced the attitude of a publicly quoted AIM minnow where PI's have served their (listing) purpose; a multibillion $$ parastatal/SOE or multinational will have even less regard for us small fry...esp if we bring with us 'baggage' such as old-fashioned views re shareholder rights, management obligations, ESG considerations (maybe), etc...

GLA

Have a look at the other board for an interesting (and well thought out, IMO) point of view by Jiving.

GLA

Hi Jiving

Thanks for picking up the ball and running with it.

Were you by chance an alchemist in a former life ?

;->

If the scenario you envisage has legs - and I think it does- I'd expect a 'tell' in the s/p in the next couple of days.

On verra.

ATB

This is Sergio's brief, per the IFC website

.."Sérgio Pimenta is IFC’s Regional Vice President for Africa. In this capacity, he is in charge of all investment, and advisory operations in a region with a committed portfolio of $17 billion and nearly 800 staff working to expand the private sector's role in addressing urgent development challenges in the financial, manufacturing, agribusiness and services, and infrastructure industries..."

Given the ESG -related theme to the depeches article, I wonder idly whether the IFC might be the 'mystery funder' of ZIOC's FEED work ?

Copilot isn't as informative as I'd like it to be.

ATB

Hi Beardozer,

I think you're absolutely right re your (A)...

and delightfully wrong in your description of the lowly s/p as 'largely irrelephant'.

HTH and ATB

Per Ashmore research

.."Argentina

Fitch upgraded Argentina’s sovereign credit rating from CC to CCC and maintained it under positive watch. This reflects growing confidence in the government’s ability to meet upcoming foreign-currency bond payments without needing restructuring or relief. The recent tax amnesty programme brought over USD 20bn into the economy, boosting reserves by USD 3.6bn since July. However, Argentina faces significant debt obligations in 2025, with USD 4.3bn due in January and July, alongside USD 2.3bn in foreign exchange (FX) bond payments by the central bank and USD 2.7bn by provincial governments. While the authorities are exploring several external financing options, none has been finalised yet..."

And - in another shift for Argentina - he's pulled out of COP 29, Baku....

Oba's visit to Algeria makes sense - it's home to the AISU :

https://aisusteel.org/en/arab-iron-steel-union/

.."Arab Iron and Steel Union is a non-governmental Arab organization. It has no political or commercial character.

Its permanent headquarters -General Secretariat- is in Algeria and has regional offices.

Arab Iron and Steel Union’s tasks fall within the framework of work plans aimed mainly at GROWING AND DEVELOPING THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IN THE ARAB WORLD..."

It's also got ambitious expansion plans of its own, judging by this

https://madeinalgeria.net/the-power-of-steel-how-algeria-is-shaping-the-future-of-iron-and-steel-in-africa-and-the-world

HTH

Hi SolomonB,

Thanks! From the other end of the deal, see item (1) below...first posted on t'other thread.

.."here's a bit more flavour re the proposed holdingco for the state's investments/carried interests in mining firms, the Fonds d'Investissement Minier du Congo (FIMC), which.. is run by President Denis Sassou-Nguesso's chargé de mission..."

hxxps://ecomatin.net/secteur-minier-le-congo-en-quete-de-partenaires-pour-le-lancement-dun-fonds-dinvestissement-minier

which adds 3 more mining interests to the mix :

(1).." an MoU with Algerian counterpart Mohamed Arkab on 14 November to strengthen technical cooperation in the fields of mining exploration and the sustainable management of natural resources. The two countries will develop joint projects to exploit their mineral resources, in particular gold, rare minerals and marble;

(2) ... a partnership agreement with the Chinese company China Gold to explore and exploit Congolese gold.. and

(3).. in August 2024, the Turkish company Ulsan Mining signed a mining agreement to exploit the Mayoko-Moussondji iron ore deposit for 25 years, FORMERLY MANAGED by the Sapro group, owned by Brazzaville tycoon Paul Obambi..."

Obambi is widely considered a proxy for Big Den.

More details/credibility re FIMC's bona fides (ie not a private initiative) here

https://www.finances.gouv.cg/fr/node/4484

.."THE CONGOLESE GOVERNMENT AND THE TURKISH COMPANY ULSAN MINING CONGO SIGN AN IRON MINING AGREEMENT IN MAYOKO

12 August, 2024

.."the Congolese GOVERNMENT, represented by the Minister of State, Minister of MINING Industries and Geology, Mr. Pierre OBA, and his colleagues in charge of the ECONOMY AND FINANCE, Mr. Jean-Baptiste ONDAYE, and of TRANSPORT, CIVIL AVIATION AND MERCHANT NAVY, Mr. Honoré SAYI, and the Turkish company Ulsan Mining Congo... signed a mining agreement in the district of Mayoko...

..Ulsan Mining Congo has obtained from the Congolese State an exploitation permit for this deposit for a period of 25 years. This exploitation concerns the iron deposit called Mayoko-Moussondji. This is a WORLD CLASS IRON MINE, which the Republic of Congo has....

..the investment already made on the site by the company Ulsan Mining Congo is 125 million US dollars....

..the overall projected investment of this project is estimated at 15 billion dollars[sic] Because it includes the actual exploitation works of the MINE; the RAILWAY; and the MINERAL PORT in Pointe-Noire. ..."

There's a question mark over Mayoko's ore quality; I don't know whether 'our' slurry pipeline could also handle Mayoko ore (the railway rehab alternative doesn't appear cost-effective) for admixing.....but the Turks are potentially a credible and capable alternative/additional Strategic Partner...and Ulsan itself would bring another mine to the FIMC portfolio.

And the numbers ($ 15 billion) suggest a (possible) sharing of infrastructure...as covered by GLEN's Marketing Agreement....

Hmmm...

ATB