Gov’t, CAMALCO seal deal for bauxite exploitation in Minim-Martap.

The mining convention was reached yesterday with the Cameroon Mining and Alumina Company, CAMALCO SA, the Cameroonian subsidiary of the Australian company Canyon Resources Ltd.

The Interim Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, Prof Fuh Calistus Gentry, signed the deal on behalf of government, while the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of CAMALCO SA, Rana Pratap Singh, put pen on paper for his company.  

The signing ceremony was attended by the Ministers of Employment and Vocational Training, Issa Tchiroma Bakari; that of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure, Henri Eyebe Ayissi and the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Finance, Yaouba Abdoulaye.

The General Manager of Cameroon Telecommunications, CAMTEL, Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi, was also in attendance.

Prof Fuh Calistus said the mining agreement is in line with the new mining policy decreed by the President of the Republic, and defined by Law No.2023/014 of December 19, 2023, on the Mining Code.

He added that the Minim-Martap bauxite project is an economically profitable, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible mining project.

In terms of technical and financial capacity, the minister assured that CAMALCO’s partner, Eagle Eye Asset Holding, is an important partner with solid technical and financial capabilities in the bauxite-alumina sector.

“As regards the detailed content of the project, it aims to optimize the exploitation of the Minim-Martap bauxite deposit by extracting 5 million tonnes of bauxite, processing the bauxite into alumina, transporting these products via the existing Ngaoundere-Yaounde-Douala rail infrastructure and exporting them to the Port of Douala or the mineral terminal of the Autonomous Port of Kribi,” Prof Fuh Calistus said. 

Project components

Minister Fuh Calistus noted that feasibility study submitted by CAMALCO shows that the project will include mining, railroads, a mineral terminal and a bauxite-to-alumina processing plant. 

He said the company will also set up an energy production unit to power its operation of the plant and other units of the project.

“With regard to the mining aspects, the project is bankable for financial institutions and has been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange since July 22, 2022. The ground-breaking ceremony for the open-pit mine is scheduled for 2025,” the minister added.

While detailed that feasibility study for the bauxite-to-alumina unit is said to being drawn up by Cabinet DELOITTE and is expected to be submitted to the government within two years of the date of signature of the operating permit. 

He explained that the project plan also shows that the treatment unit has been scheduled to be completed within six months after submission of the detailed feasibility study.

Also, the minister said infrastructure related to mining operations have been subjected to specific contracts to be signed between CAMALCO SA and the structures concerned, such as Bollore Africa Railways and CAMRAIL for the railways, and the Douala and Kribi Autonomous Ports for the ore terminal.  

He said construction works on the railway between Makor and Douala are said to start within six months of the signing of the operating permit.

Benefits 

Going by the Interim mines minister, the signed convention offers beneficial socio-economic spin-offs for the local and indigenous populations and Cameroon in general. 

“CAMALCO S.A. also plans to develop infrastructure, mix Cameroonian populations from diverse backgrounds, transfer technology, introduce work-study placements for students, develop the project area, increase the purchasing power of local communities, acquire initial Cameroonian mining experience and attract other mining investors, both expatriate and national,” he stated.

In addition to creating over a thousand direct jobs and several indirect jobs, he said the project will make a significant contribution to the national economy from the first year of production. 

Counting the annual financial benefits of the project, he explained that government has 10% of free shares, ad valorem tax at 3% of market value, production sharing of 5% of market value, mining sector development fund at a rate of 1% of sales excluding tax.

He equally cited the special account for capacity development at a rate of 1% of sales excluding tax, export tax at a rate of 2%, state concession fees set at 100,000 FCFA/Km2/year and 10% of the project company’s capital to nationals.

Local authorities urged to support project

While citing the various benefit of the project, the member of government urged local authorities like Mayors, members of parliament and senators to do their utmost to support the project. 

“As for the local community impacted by the project, it will benefit from support from the share of the ad valorem tax for the benefit of the impacted Communes and from the special account for the development of local capacities, injected for the implementation of local content,” he assured.

The minister further stipulated that CAMALCO will contribute to the fund for the rehabilitation, restoration and closure of mining sites, the annual contribution to which will be determined on the basis of the projected costs of implementing the environmental preservation and rehabilitation programme drawn up by mutual agreement between the two parties.

Enter CAMALCO CEO

For his part, the CAMALCO CEO, Rana Pratap Singh, said the signing ceremony marked an important milestone for the concession to be converted to a mining permit. 

“Once we have this mining permit, then all our activities will take the pace with much more confidence from investors and we will be in position to start serious negotiations with our logistic partners so that we are prepared within a period of about two years to start the mining operations,” he noted.

He said the project is not just a win-win project for CAMALCO and the country but an added value to Cameroon.

“The deposit is one of the world's best deposits which is still a virgin deposit because of the logistic issues but we have our investors who have very high potentials both financially and technically to turn around the logistic solution coupled with our mining experience,” he stated.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3185 of Wednesday July 31, 2024