Cameroon and Sinosteel Cam SA, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned multinational Sinosteel Corporation Ltd., signed an agreement on Friday that will allow the company to invest more than 700 million dollars in an iron ore project in the Southern Cameroons region.
Gabriel Dodo Ndoke, Cameroonian Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development and Zheng Zhenghao, Managing Director of Sinosteel Cam SA, proceeded to this signature in the Palais des Congrès in Yaoundé, capital of Cameroon.
The agreement concerns an integrated mining and infrastructure project, which targets the industrial exploitation of Lobe iron ore in the region, according to a press release published by Sinosteel Cam SA during the signing ceremony.
This project includes the development of an iron ore enrichment plant, a pipeline of approximately 20 km for the delivery of enriched iron ore to the ore terminal, an energy production unit for at least 60MW for the project and an ore terminal allowing the marketing of products on the international market, we learned from the same source.
“It is ecologically sustainable and economically profitable. Sinosteel has technical and financial means. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank our partners from the Chinese State who are supporting us in this project through their international company Sinosteel, a great company with experience all over the world. This is a great opportunity for our development. This project which will start soon will bring a lot of opportunities to our country,” Ndoke told reporters after the ceremony.
With estimated reserves of 632.8 million tons of iron ore, Sinosteel Cam SA plans to mine 10 million tons per year of 33% ore and then beneficiate them to produce 4 million tons of high-grade concentrate. more than 60% iron, according to the statement.
“This project will bring an increase in state revenues, create jobs directly and indirectly for Cameroonians. We will train the local population so that they know what the mining industry is and it is also the first industrial mining project in the mining sector of this country,” Zheng said.
Sinosteel Cam SA estimates that at least 600 direct jobs and over 1,000 indirect jobs will be created through the project.