Gabriel Dodo Ndoke, Cameroon’s Minister of Mines, Industry, and Technological Development, and Zheng Zhenghao, General Manager of Sinosteel Cam S.A., signed a convention that enables the company to exploit the Lobe iron ore deposit located in the Southern part of Cameroon. The convention was signed during a ceremony that took place on Friday, May 6th, at the Congress Hall in Cameroon’s capital city Yaoundé.
Sinosteel Cam S.A., the Cameroonian subsidiary of China’s Sinosteel Corporation Ltd, will inject more than 700 million dollars into the project, official Chinese media have reported. The company seeks to extract 10 million tons of ore per year at 33 percent iron and projects that the subsequent enrichment of that amount of ore will yield four million tons of high-grade iron at more than 60 percent iron. The total amount of reserves of the Lobe iron ore deposit is estimated at 632,8 million tons and the exploitation will span over a period of 50 years.
The project also entails developing an iron ore beneficiation plant, establishing a mineral terminal to sell the iron on the international market, building a 20-kilometers pipeline that will enable the transportation of iron ore to the terminal, and developing an energy production unit for the project, official Chinese media have reported.
Expected benefits for Cameroon’s economy
It is predicted that the Central African country will receive an estimate of 36 million US dollars as revenue from this project every year. The project should also result in the creation of 600 direct jobs and more than 1000 indirect jobs. In addition, it will also enable skills and technology transfer as well as the development of infrastructures in the area of the country in which it will be implemented. Moreover, this project is expected to boost Cameroon’s iron and steel industry.
