(Business in Cameroon) - Today July 2, the Australian junior mining company announced that despite the failure to reach an agreement on June 30, it is continuing negotiations with China's AustSino Resources on the Mbalam iron ore project in eastern Cameroon.

 “Sundance and AustSino are currently in negotiations to agree to a further extension of the Agreement and both companies will update the market accordingly, as soon as possible,” the Australian multinational said in a statement.

Sundance has been in negotiations with AustSino since 2018 to restart the Mbalam iron project, which has been dormant since 2011. The agreement between the two companies provides for the transfer of Sundance's majority shares ($58.250 million, or about CFAF34.13 billion) to AutSino, which will then develop the said project.

Since then, however, the Chinese partner has still not convened its shareholders to validate the deal with Sundance. In the meantime, the agreement between the Cameroonian government and Sundance on this project has elapsed since March 2019. There is currently no information on whether it has been renewed.

The mining project involves the two-phase development of the deposits at Mbalam in Cameroon and Nabeba in Congo. Sundance Resources Ltd. expects to produce 40 million tonnes of direct-feed ore per year over 12 years during the first phase. The second phase will extend the life of the operation by more than 15 years by producing a high-grade hematite and itabirite concentrate.

S.A.