IRON AND STEEL

Chinese company to build West African port for Sundance project

Sundance Resources, which lost its entire board of directors in a plane crash in less than three months ago, today confirmed China Harbour Engineering would build the port for its iron ore project.

Author: Ross Louthean
Posted: Tuesday , 14 Sep 2010

PERTH - - 

 

The Australian company that lost its entire board of directors in a plane crash in West Africa less than three months ago, Sundance Resources Ltd (ASX: SDL), today confirmed a major Chinese company would build the port for its iron ore project.

 

China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd (CHEC) was confirmed as the port infrastructure partner for Sundance Resources's big Mbalam iron ore project which straddles the Cameroon and Congo in West Africa.

The proposed bulk materials port at will be built at Lolabe in the Republic of Cameroon.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed for CHEC by Vice President, Lin Yi Chong, and for Sundance by board chairman, George Jones.

The MOU's key agreement commits the parties to work together to establish:

• Scope, cost and programme for delivery of the Lolabe port project sufficient to support planned output of 35 million tonnes per annum shipment of iron ore from Mbalam.
• Terms of an EPC Contract under which CHEC would deliver the port project.

Sundance said that at the conclusion of that work the two companies "may enter into a delivery contract for the port."

"Neither party is bound to enter into the Delivery Contract if it is not prudent to do so," Sundance said.

The MOU recognises that the Lolabe port will be integral with the "Mine Project itself and the Mine Rail Project."

"The MOU also recognises that the port, rail and mine projects are subject to a range of conditions precedent including government approvals, funding and title requirements for the rail corridor and other assets.

George Jones said the port development is "the gateway to export of our planned tonnages from West Africa." 

CHEC, he said, is world renowned in the field of port construction with extensive experience of working in Africa and it follows hard on the heels of Sundance's MOU with CRCC China-Africa Ltd for the Mbalam rail project.

"We now have in place MOUs with two of China's leading infrastructure providers.

"These agreements will fix the delivery requirements for our logistics infrastructure from mine to ship." Jones added.

CHEC is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Co Ltd and has 31 overseas branches and offices. It is now the major international operating division of CCCC Group which was ranked 17^th in the top 225 International Contractors and ranked first among all Chinese international contractors and the second largest dredging company in the world.