Bipindi Subdivision: Imminent start of iron ore mining project.

He made the announcement during a field visit to the mining sites Friday March 22. 

The member of government was accompanied by the Governor of the South Region, Felix Nguele Nguele, and a host of other administrative, municipal and traditional authorities of the area.

The mining project will be carried out by the Cameroon Mining Action, CAMINA S.A, a subsidiary of the Indian steel company, Jindal Steel and Power Limited.

During the field visit, the minister inspected dispositions put in place at the Ngovayang deposit and evaluated the progress of the exploration phases of the project.

Speaking at the end of his evaluation mission, Minister Fuh Calistus said all the parameters necessary for the project to start before the end of the current year are being finalised. 

He mentioned three important components, including the mining component, the infrastructure component and the treatment, beneficiation or enrichment plant. 

“We came to make sure that the engineering studies are satisfactory and in conformity with field realities. That is what we have ascertained,” the minister declared. 

According to Prof Fuh Calistus, the iron ore project in Ngovayang has been ticked amongst four projects that have migrated from medium term mining projects to short term projects assigned to start effectively this 2024.

Iron ore reserve

Going by Prof Fuh Calistus, the Ngovayang deposit had an initial iron ore reserve of 300 million tonnes with a possibility of it increasing as exploration studies are soon to be completed. 

“We are looking at initial reserve certified at 300 million tonnes with total possible reserve of 800 million tonnes of iron ore,” he told The Guardian Post. 

He added that: “This reserve will be certified and completed by June this year. All the phases for construction will start before the end of this year”. 

“The engineering and scoping studies in most parts have been completed. We can now go to the table to negotiate the mining convention with all the assurances that the project is beneficial to this country and that the State, under the new mining law, will receive maximum benefits,” the minister reiterated.

Project specificity

The Ngovayang iron ore project is the next major project government has earmarked to commence effectively this year after that of Kribi-Lobe, Mbalam, Bipindi-Grand-Zambi and the Colomine gold mining, which all kick-started in 2023. 

According to the Interim MINMIDT boss, the Ngovayang mineral project will be peculiar from the other projects in terms of the means of transportation of the concentrated iron ore from the enrichment plant to the Kribi port. 

Unlike the Mbalam, Bipindi-Grand-Zambi and Kribi-Lobe projects, which means of transportation will be roads and consequently railways, the Ngovayang project will utilise the slurry pipeline. 

“The specificity of this project is that it is very hilly. This means that neither a road nor a railway will be used. Only a pipeline will be used,” the minister explained.

He added that: “This is going to be a new technology in the mining landscape of Cameroon. It is practised elsewhere. In Brazil, we have pipelines as long as 520km. Ours will be 130km from here to Kribi, which will carry the ore”. 

Project schedule outlined

The minister also informed the press that all necessary steps are being taken to ensure that project scheduled as outlined by the contracting company, are strictly respected.

“We have a well-defined programme. They have 10,000 metres linear drilling to be done by end of May, and certification of reserve by a South African company by end of June,” he stated, while insisting that the mining construction, iron ore enrichment plant and the slurry pipeline construction will start before the end of the year. 

“This is a well-defined programme. I want to assure you that the Jindal Company is well known in this sector of activity the world over,” he continued.

Maximum benefits for Cameroon

The member of government further assured Cameroonians that the country is going to get maximum benefits from the different mining projects in the country, including that of Ngovayang iron ore. 

He indicated that the new Mining Code that was defended in parliament and enacted into law by the President of the Republic, ensures that Cameroon gets maximum benefits from each mining project. 

“I can assure you that the sharing of production cost and other things, which we evoked in parliament, will be applied in the negotiation of the project convention for this project. That is why we had to defend and to pass this law. We can now negotiate mining conventions with enough confidence and in legality,” he asserted. 

Enter CAMINA CEO 

Addressing the press, the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of CAMINA S.A, Steven Din, recalled that Jindal Company acquired majority shares of the CAMINA S.A in 2014, from an Australian company that did some exploration works on the Ngovayang.

However, he said due to the external constraints linked to the global financial crisis in 2015, with the prices of iron ore across the world dropping, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, activities were halted.  

“Since the end of 2022, this project has been on fast track. We are completing all of the exploration. We are now into the engineering process. We expect to start the construction of each different parts of the packages required towards the end of this year,” the CAMINA CEO stated. 

He continued that: “Our intention is to bring the concentrated iron, which is the product that comes out of the beneficiation plant, through the 130km pipeline to be constructed from the Kribi port”.

Highlighting Jindal Company’s leadership position in the steel production sector, the CEO pronounced that: “We are the largest steel producer in the gulf. We also have capital power plant close to 6,000 megawatts of generating capacity. When we look at developing a deposit, it needs to be large. We believe that the size of the deposit here justifies our investment”. 

Creation of jobs

During the presentation of the project, the CEO of CAMINA S.A said the project will create jobs amongst other benefits for Cameroon and Cameroonians.

With a foreign direct investment of $800 million (over 483 billion 282 million FCFA) by the company, the CEO indicated that 2,000 direct jobs will be created during construction while 1,000 direct jobs will be created during the operational phase of the project. 

Also, an estimated 20,000 indirect jobs are expected to be created during ongoing operations. 

Besides the fiscal receipts, royalties and taxes, the boss of CAMINA S.A said several social economic projects will be carried out for the interest of the communities in and around project area.