(Business in Cameroon) - Despite a great potential, in terms of resources Cameroon cobalt, nickel and manganese are untapped and in some areas still unexplored.

Although the award of the license to exploit cobalt, nickel and manganese was granted to the American Geovic Cameroon Plc in 2003, the exploitation of these minerals has not yet started. There are about 100 million tons of ore deposits with 0.2% cobalt, 0.72% nickel and 3.71% manganese. SNI (National Investment Company of Cameroon) holds 20% of shares of Geovic, 19.5% belong to another shareholder group and 0.5% to Cameroonians, states Geovic Mining Corporation President, William A. Bukovic. SNI and the State of Cameroon have already invested about FCFA 20 billion.

Doubts about Geovic

In April 2011, Geovic had submitted its bankable feasibility study approved by its Board of Directors. Then proof of finances to commence the construction of the mine in September 2011, then a sudden halt. The former Minister of Mines, Badel Ndanga Ndinga, tried to explain the reasons in the Cameroon Tribune. “There may be a funding problem, but it does not belong to Geovic alone. The State of Cameroon through the SNI controls 39.5% stake in the company. Geovic has 20% equity, and SNI has 19.5%. When doing fundraising, someone pays. However, I believe that today, all pledges have not been honored. So we are also to be partly blamed for the delay,” he explained.

To date, information on its launch scheduled to begin in 2012 is neither confirmed nor refuted.

However there are still many fields to assess. In Cameroon, there are laterite deposits of cobalt, nickel, manganese in Lomié, East region.

According to the Ministry of Mines and Geovic, annual production could reach: 4,160 tons of cobalt, 3,280 tons of nickel, 450,000 tons of manganese, and 4,000 tons of Scandium.

BOD