businessincameroon.com

Does Cameroon have the largest diamond deposit in the world? "Yes", said the Korean company that has an exploration permit. "I do not know," replies the government. What a thick mystery.

Badel Ndanga Ndinga: "From this announcement that was made till the reality, there is still a long way to go."

By Hance Guèye, Dakar

What is the reality of the diamond deposit in Cameroon? Traditionally, perhaps to maintain the hope of people which are severely affected by the difficulties of everyday life, African governments have promptly announced the discovery of mineral resources. Cameroon has just waived that rule. He is cautious and circumspect, while the foreign partner, the Korean C & K Mining Company, multiplies the effects of listing. Thus there is a South Korean newspaper, Korea Times, which gave the news; the very good news.

« In this information which was relayed and which I've read there's also a bit of intoxication, because we talked about the allocation of 20%. This is completely false. The Company C & K Mining is still in the research phase of exploration. »

Cameroon has the largest diamond reserves in the world. Approximately 736 million carats or five times the annual world production of diamonds! 6 million carats could be extracted each year. The mines are to be found in the underground of Mobilong and Limokoali, in the East of the country. It was in 2007 that the presence of this large amount of diamond was confirmed.

According to the Korean newspaper, the discovery was made by a geological exploration mission, led by Dr. Kim Won-Sa, a Korean geologist, professor at Chungnam University. His research was funded by one of the biggest players in the diamond industry, C & K Mining. This quickly creates a joint venture with the State of Cameroon to exploit the discovery. The CEO of the joint venture, Duk-Kyun Oh, according to the Korean newspaper, said that the company will invest 500 billion FCFA francs (750 million euros) for over 25 years and create 4,000 jobs.

Silence from Cameroon

The Korean company has submitted an exploration report to the Cameroon government in March 2008 and is still awaiting its response. This has not prevented the Cameroonian Minister of Industry, Mines and Technological Development, Badel Ndanga Ndinga, to lead a Cameroonian delegation who attended the briefing session held in Seoul, with the participation of about 200 experts, officials and businessmen.
However, the Minister was confident and tried to highlight, failing to deny the previous Korean announcement. "I have no evidence of contradiction. Their research is made by leading geologists of the world. But at this stage, I can not confirm anything. "

Mr. Ndinga was more direct, regarding the operation. "The C & K Mining Company is the beneficiary of an exploration permit in the area. The announcement was made in reality, but there is still a long way to go. In this information which was relayed and which I've read, there's also a bit of intoxication, because we talked about the allocation of 20%. This is completely false. C & K Mining Company is still in the research phase of exploration. The Korean side should expect to negotiate a mining agreement, and then the decree will operate.

In what concerns the investments announced by C & K Mining, the Minister stressed that "in the exploration phase, all expenditures are made at the risk of the company, who can not find anything. The Mining Code provides three years for this phase of exploration. It is a renewable period. C & K Mining Co had its exploration permits in 2007. It can happen that it arrives at the end of the contract and request an extension or renewal to continue its investigations if they are not finished. "

Therefore, the information should be taken with caution. It would be very surprising that such reserves could be ignored by France, which was present for centuries, all Western diamond companies and those from Southern Africa. But sometimes the miracle occurs.