African Min. Share Discussion Threads

[cantrememberthis2] 30/11/2014 17:37

Umaru fofana was the tweeter...
bad day it seems eeekkkkk and a ouch hence no rns all last week

admin?

[cantrememberthis2] 30/11/2014 17:26

Twitter tweet claims 90% staff sent home, seems as though it truly is game over...check over on lse

[casual47] 30/11/2014 17:25

It was just to illustrate that expacts would be going on leave anyway around this time.

[kirk 6] 30/11/2014 16:47

Casual that's from the 27th??? What's news then

[casual47] 30/11/2014 16:37

"Filipino employees of companies in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea who already complied with the quarantine procedure by the World Health Organization (WHO) should be given exemption from the Philippine government’s own mandatory 21-day isolation period for Filipinos returning from the three Ebola-hit West African countries. This appeal was made by overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in that region who are poised to go home for their Christmas vacation. According to Nimuel Diagmel, fuel supervisor at African Minerals Ltd. in Sierra Leone, they can only stay here for a limited period of time and should be back at their worksite right after their holiday leave, or risk losing their jobs to other nationalities who are competing in the work market there."hTTp://www.mb.com.ph/national-newsbits-for-november-27-2014/

[kirk 6] 30/11/2014 16:35

Would it not be good to save wages till a deal is stuck to sell stake?

[casual47] 30/11/2014 16:34

Best wait for official news. A lot of the workers are expats and would be leaving anyway for the Christmas holidays (see philipino article I posted earlier)

[earnestwipplethwaiteiii] 30/11/2014 16:32

And don't you just love being the first to report it, you heap of dung.

[shimmysham12] 30/11/2014 16:12

Some bloke on twitter saying aml sent 90%. Workers home. Looks like its over.

[kirk 6] 30/11/2014 15:18

Maybe we could be looking at GOSL

[kirk 6] 30/11/2014 13:19

One of Sierra Leone's most successful and biggest mining company with stakes in the Port Loko District, Bombali and Tonkolili Districts is on the verge of collapse with thousands of Sierra Leoneans probably going out of employment if Shandong Iron Ore Mining, a China based company, continues to hold on to money needed for investment.African Minerals holds 75% of the Tonkolili project while Shandong has 25% of the project.African Minerals, Sierra Leone has agreed with partner Shandong Iron and Steel Group to get access to $284 million of cash previously earmarked for phase II expansion of the Tonkolili iron ore mines.The project funds to be used as a working capital, is meant not only for construction and capital as originally designated and drawdown to begin immediately.African Minerals was, according to a Memorandum of Understanding was to separate financial and operational management of the Tonkolili project companies from the corporate level as a result of the accord with Shandong.Tonkolili has the biggest iron ore deposit in Africa and the third largest in the world, African Minerals Tonkolili Project is found on the hills around Bumbuna, Mabonto and Bendugu.Unfortunately, as a result of the Ebola crisis in the country, the company's export rate drops from its usual forecasting and thus affecting its market share. However, the company's iron ore asset is enormous and thus the need for investment and operation in the country to which Shandong Mining company has refused to release the agreed amount for operations to continue in the Tonkolili Iron Ore Mine.African Minerals Sierra Leone Ltd. has an account in China, with the HK BankThe action by the China based iron ore mining company has created a state of bewilderment in the country with almost 10,000 Sierra Leoneans to be out of jobs.Presently, the country is faced with a crisis that has annihilated the economy and the Government struggling to cope with problems of continuous drop in investment and drop in revenue, which many people are saying is contributed to by the by the Shandong Mining Company. It has openly contributed to further stagnate the economy due to its refusal to release funds needed for the operations of AML Sierra Leone.The action by Shandong, if not addressed now will be devastating to the country's economy and to also make Sierra Leoneans to think that the purpose of the company buying shares in AML Sierra Leone LTD. was to milk millions of dollars from the mines in Sierra Leone with no concern for the affected communities and chiefdoms whose lands are being mined for iron ore minerals.This is not the first time that Chinese Companies have duped the Government and people of Sierra Leone. A case in point is Kinko, another Chinese Company that was widely acclaimed by the Government and people as the savior of the Country, but turned out to be a big disappointment and left the country and Government walloping in darkness.

[miamisteve] 30/11/2014 04:48

Windjammer - Yes. I shouldnt have stated that as a fact, but the word was the change of CEO and Board restructuring conditions were aimed at limiting FT's influence.

When I spoke with Jeffries they intimated that Shandong felt that their conditions had not been met as a reason for withholding the funds.

[hvs] 29/11/2014 20:59

Nice name shame about the graph.

[w1ndjammer] 29/11/2014 19:08

post 4108

item 3. is wrong

WJ.

[miamisteve] 29/11/2014 13:56

HDB - Yes you are correct that there are no discounts if price received are below $60. But AML was also asking Shandong to apply a premium in respect to the low silica content which I don't see as enforceable.

IR aka Tavistock are a waste of time and should be ditched as a cost cutting initiative. I didn't get the feeling that they really new what was going on behind the scenes as they came out with comments like we haven't been told and also on technical matters had no worthwhile knowledge.

They basically repeat what is insinuated in the RNS that they are trying to work something out.

If you want info you need it from the company and as they aren't taking any calls it would mean paying them a visit. If I was in the country I would do the same.

There maybe a serious question of director negligence at play if the company is walked into admin given that they did not disclose that the Chinese were not permitting the release of funds until the 12th of November. I am sure that there maybe a solid grounds for the Chinese position not just bad manners. Who knows maybe the money from the previous installment was misappropriated.

[johnwalton] 29/11/2014 12:50

hdb

60 year life span and crooks will try and steal it.

who the crooks are is yet to be determined.

[hdb] 29/11/2014 11:49

Re the Chinese not agreeing to defer their discounts I was told that no discounts applied below a floor in the iron ore price by IR and we are below that floor. Mind you if IR has jumped into bed with frankly who knows what to believe. It would be nice if the banks the Chinese and franky boy could all show some common sense and put their differences aside ....I know it is business and all that but there are also thousands of low paid jobs on the line ... If the Chinese agreed to take the shipments at cost for 12 months surely this better than seeing 1.5 billion wiped off ? If the iron ore price improves above a certain level then paying Chinese a special dividend might reward them for their loyalty when times were tough. It has taken 5 years to get to stable production levels and only 5 months of price volatility to nearly break this. You would hope people have an eye on the long term and 80 years of resource and proximity to European markets and hope that male egoes don't get in the way !

[earnestwipplethwaiteiii] 29/11/2014 09:38

miamisteve - we know, or we think we know, that there were discussions continuing last week; as much was admitted by IR in reply to enquirers. We just don't know with whom - it could be the Chinese, it could be a third or even fourth party, it could be a combination of those.

[seanywauny] 28/11/2014 22:15

Yep the IFC is always open to help developing African countries.-They helped out BAO in Mozambique.

[broncowarrior] 28/11/2014 22:01

Loan from the world bank or one of the other development banks would be the way to go, given the importance of this to a very poor country.

[kirk 6] 28/11/2014 18:33

Here we go gents for good news:It is an open secret that the biggest private sector employer in the country, African Minerals Limited (AML) is in serious financial difficulties as far as the Tonkolili Iron Ore project is concerned.Pundits are even predicting an imminent collapse of the Tonkolili-Iron Ore Project.This is as a result of the refusal of china-based company Shandong Iron and Steel Group (which is having 25% stakes in the Tonkolili Iron-Ore project) to release some two hundred and eighty four million dollars for the sustainability of the project at a time when deadly Ebola and massive cut in international price of iron ore is ravaging the project.The project has been losing some thirty million dollars monthly for the past several months, thus resulting to the current unfortunate financial position of the project.This reality notwithstanding, it is clear falsity and incorrect insinuation to state that the Tonkolili Iron Ore project has deteriorated to a state of bankruptcy, when the Hong Kong account of the project can still boast of hundreds of millions of dollars.Evidently, African Minerals Limited (AML) which holds some seventy five percent (75%) stake in the Tonkolili Project, and Shandong Iron and Steel Group (SISG), owner of the remaining 25% stake, unanimously agreed in August of this year to release some two hundred and eighty four million dollars from the project's Hong Kong account, so as to keep the project alive and running at a time like this.This agreement was widely publicized in UK and China newspapers and it was all good news for the Tonkolili Iron-Ore Project in particular and Sierra Leone as a whole.It therefore came as a surprise when news broke out lately that Shandong has refused to instruct the bank to release the funds even after AML has signed for the release.While the action of Shandong is being widely viewed as a deliberate attempt to undermine the project on a selfish agenda, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Timis Corporation, Mr. Frank Timis is said to have vowed to keep the Tonkolili Iron-Ore project alive.Mr. Timis is reportedly exploring all possible avenues including using his business assets as collateral to secure some five hundred million dollars bailout for the project.This is not coming as a surprise to those who are familiar with the passion that Mr. Timis attaches to providing employment for Sierra Leoneans and boosting the country's national economy.It is however sad that the Government of Sierra Leone, which has immensely benefitted from African Minerals Limited and the Tonkolili Project is seemingly not associating with the international businessman to salvage this looming catastrophe.The importance for the government to show appreciation to AML at a time like this cannot be overemphasized, as the collapse of this project will not only render thousands of Sierra Leoneans jobless but will even result to social unrest in the country.This unfortunate situation facing the Tonkolili project is definitely solvable, especially if Mr. Timis gets the required support from stakeholders, especially the Government of Sierra Leone.As all of this is happening, Timis is having sleepless nights strategizing to keep this project alive and shame detractors.

[seanywauny] 28/11/2014 18:16

I guess Frank knows what he's doing and that LOND has made his bargaining position a lot stronger. He knew this day would come.Smells like he's telling SISG what they can put in their pipe and smoke.

[kirk 6] 28/11/2014 17:32

Nice to see iron ore price rising well