Zanaga Iron Ore Share Discussion Threads

[extrader] 12/7/2021 09:02

[...]

No mention of who's supposed to be financing this (cost abt US$ 1.1 billion)

BRAZZAVILLE, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Congolese group SAPRO Mayoko and South Africa-based Thelo DB Proprietary Limited signed more than CFAF 600 billion in Agreement friday in Brazzaville for the construction of a 412-km stretch of rail for the evacuation of iron in southwestern Congo, Xinhua found on the spot.

The agreement was signed by Sapro Mayoko SA's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Paul Obambi, and Thelo DB's CEO, Ronny Ntouli.

The two CEOs welcomed the signing of this agreement which will "boost" the activities of Sapro Mayoko which exploits the Mayoko iron deposit in the south-west of Congo.

In addition to the construction of the new 412 km railway section from Mayoko to the future pointe-noire ore port, part of this funding will be used to rehabilitate the old 182 km railway section from Mayoko to the Autonomous Port of Pointe-Noire (PAPN).

Due to numerous derailments, this former section of railway makes it difficult to transport iron from Mayoko to the PAPN. The construction of the new section will take five years and will allow the evacuation of 12 million tons of iron per year.

SAPRO Mayoko SA is congo's only iron mining operation in Mayoko, near the border with Gabon.

It acquired the Mayoko iron deposit in 2016 from the South African mining company, Exxaro DMC, with an initial production of three million tons of iron per year. The Congolese company has a long-term production target of 150 million tons per year. end.

ATB

[catchingmice] 06/7/2021 13:07

What a Dog of a share this one is Always kicking the can down the road doing F--K All

[extrader] 05/7/2021 10:41

AT called before the weekend, the Nomad having forwarded to him my email to them.

He stated their view that there was no regulatory obligation to update but recognised the frustration that many shareholders might legitimately be feeling.

We spoke for the better part of 30 mins in a wide-ranging conversation , but everything ultimately coming back to the difficult position of trying to achieve 'a change in the dynamics' without being able to say what ZIOC was working on.

Specifically , he said

- unlikely to see a change in GLEN's attitude to greenfield, shared not just by Ivan and Gary but by the ExCom;

- where GLEN had done iron ore projects, they'd been brownfield or offtake involvement;

- the recent doubling up on Colombian coal despite ESG considerations was driven by influential/interested shareholders;

-he acknowledged the speculation that there'd been a slowdown on COIDIC side, said this seemed to be as much from internal changes as anything else; coronavirus, meanwhile, was a headwind for everyone;

- re the recent revocation of CongoMining Mayoko Moussendji license, he said that they - unlike Zanaga - couldn't show they'd been actively trying to move things along ; he confirmed that Zanaga had never received any official complaint or approach on this matter;

- Simandou at best would only cover 10 % of China's iron ore imports, China seemed to be looking to Brazil to reduce further its current dependency on Australia;

- I asked re Forrest/Fortescue Mining visits to the area, AT wouldn't comment other than to say that Forrest was one of the few Oz miners who didn't share his compatriots' complacency that China would always be dependent on Australian ore;

- the current high ore price only adds to the frustration; as to cyclicality vs 'commodity supercycle' , AT said the Project remained attractive at $ 70/62% = $ 85 / 65%, esp. in view of lower impurities;

- he acknowledged shareholders 'opportunity cost' concerns, said that he and team were acutely aware of this' having salary-sacrificed the last couple of years' - he also said that none of the shares in lieu had been sold;

- he several times said things to the effect that 'there's a reason for our radio silence' but acknowledged that giving any timing would be a hostage to fortune. He conceded that he might have to reconsider his own position at some point, but 'not for at least a couple of years'.

My take hasn't changed substantially , ZIOC's task is to come up with something that gets GLEN's blessing, what that might be - in the words of the late Donald Rumsfeld - is a 'known unknown'.

With no apparent threat to licences and the overall macro-environment generally positive, it seems there's still an outside chance there'll be a breakthrough at some point.

So ZIOC remains a high risk / maybe high reward position for me...and my investment is sized accordingly.

HTH, NAI, DYOR, E& OE, AIUI etc, etc.

[extrader] 01/7/2021 09:26

Well, I've emailed AT to see what, if anything, he says, on the very points you've raised : if it was important enough to mention things then, it's important to do the same now, even /especially ! if negative....

Failing which, it might be worth raising the matter with the Nomad or with Elphick himself , via GEMD.

From our brief (polite) exchange at an AGM a few years back, I got the impression that he set some store by appearances, so may be minded to 'do the right thing'.

As head of a London quoted company, in the public eye from its spectacular diamond finds, Elphick has more of an image to protect.

[sooty snipes] 30/6/2021 17:20

Hi. Extrader. I don't know about you but to me this is very disappointing. Reading back over the end of September 2020 update. It seemed things were actually heating up. This isn't an update at all. There is nothing new in fact things look to me like they've gone backwards. COIDIC now seem to be off the scene completely. Trahar made a real big deal about COIDEC when they first got involved. I take this has a very big backwards step. Secondly we had several strategic investors showing interest. Where have they gone? Thirdly we had Yantai Port on board and now no mention of them. I'm glad I've reduced my holding down to 180,000 will offload another 30,000 me thinks. I'll sit on the 150,000 this to me is no longer an investable company. It's become a heads or tails holding now.

[extrader] 30/6/2021 08:39

Zip re COIDIC and no update re any of the 'several approaches' received.

The retention scheme seems to have set aside 2.8m shares for the lucky 3, if I read correctly.

Hard to know whether reticence is because of something in the works (;->) or because there's lots to be reticent about (;-<).

As someone has pointed out GLEN has just increased its exposure to a Colombian coal project, by taking out its Oz partners including BHP :

- somewhat conflicts with GLEN's avowed intentions re coal, on the face of it;
- could maybe have traded Zanaga with the Aussies, if they were interested.

The runes aren't easy to read.

GLA.

[gismo] 30/6/2021 08:14

He's sworn to secrecy

[mertymcs] 30/6/2021 08:11

"Due to bouyant iron ore prices and continued strength in demand from China, the need for investment into tier one iron ore assets is compelling and the Zanaga Project provides such an opportunity. We look forward to further advancing our desired objectives through the remainder of 2021."Would be good if we even had a clue what the "desired objectives" were as it just seems to be continually updating the information that they already know

[greenelf] 30/6/2021 07:58

Pulse has stopped. DNR.

[gismo] 28/6/2021 16:41

Lets hope there's something in there that would explain why he hasn't been able to discuss anything with us due to sensitivity

[sooty snipes] 28/6/2021 16:39

If anyone is interested we will be getting the end of June results very shortly. Will they bring good news is anyone's guess. I reduced my holding from 250,000 shares to 180,000 because of the chronic lack of communication from the board

[extrader] 24/6/2021 18:36

'Poor customer service' always brings this to mind



let's hope it's not ZIOC that's 'resting'.

[extrader] 24/6/2021 14:32

The son also rises....

Denis fils being groomed for higher things? Which Ministry is i/c the local police ?

The Ambassador Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to the Congo, Raul Mateus Paula, announced on 23 June in Brazzaville funding [Euro 5 million] from its institution intended to support the functioning of the Congolese police.

He made this announcement following an exchange with the Minister of International Cooperation and the Promotion of Public Private Partnership, Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso in the company of the French Ambassador to C-B.

Pretty much everything could fall under the umbrella of 'international co-operation' - foreign affairs, defence agreements, aid negotiations , coronavirus vaccines....

Ho hum.

[extrader] 23/6/2021 15:13

Also coverage of a new CFA 100 billion claimed (US$ 175m) PPP for a shopping mall and residential complex on 10 acres of river frontage in Brazzaville, a modernisation project 'dear to the President's heart'.

[extrader] 23/6/2021 15:01

C-B and the IMF.

'Talk the talk' ...or 'walk the walk'?

New PM Makosso's statement of intent (per depeches) :

.."Aware of the fact that it cannot resolve the current crisis by its own means, the government has made a commitment to send strong signals in terms of improving governance to all partners. To do this, it intends to continue negotiations with
all private actors, bilateral and multilateral partners including the IMF. The goal is to lighten the weight of the state debt ; mobilize external and internal resources ; revive and diversify the economy.

With regard to the IMF, the new program will benefit from the catalyst role of this institution with multilateral and bilateral partners with the improvement of the signature and credibility of the country in financial markets. It will also reduce the cost of state debt; and enable access to new IMF program called the Common Framework (possibility of debt rescheduling over 30 years) from which already three African countries have benefitted.

"We also intend to re-launch negotiations with all private, creditors bilateral or multilateral, to make state debt sustainable and free up budgetary margins/ additional funds for the financing of our economy ”.

Suggests PM (or his speech-writer) understands what needs doing...and C-B acknowledges that bilateral creditor GLEN has some cards to play.

What will C-B offer in return ? Some 'joined up thinking' might not go amiss.

Maybe Dominique Strauss Kahn (Nguesso's debt adviser as was ) has some ideas.

Who knows ?

[extrader] 23/6/2021 14:19

Thanks for the updates re your perspectives, guys.

I'm still (just) ahead, but the opportunity cost is starting to weigh...esp as other potential homes for my 'mad money' end of the portfolio seem to have done the business in the meantime ;-<<br />
GLEN / Glasenberg seems to believe in the commodities supercycle continuing:

hxxps://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/glencore-s-glasenberg-says-china-can-t-cool-commodities-for-long/46727816

Now, how best to exploit that ?

Let's see what - if anything - ZIOC has to say in the next week.

[sooty snipes] 23/6/2021 11:54

Good luck to you GTA and thanks for your past input. I still hold 200,000 shares. Have been contemplating selling another 25,000 just to mitigate my risk. I lost faith in this company after they didn't update at the end of last year. I made a good amount out of these the first time round. I made a big mistake buying back in that's for sure. The 200,000 I have left stand at an average of 11.5p. If these fail to update at the end of this month I'll wipe my mouth and move on. I will still be in front from my previous profit.

[gta5] 23/6/2021 09:56

Extrader, excellent information as usual. Thanks for that.

Judging from the share price and the wider exasperation with RoC in the international markets the talk does not have much bearing on the reality around investability, valuations and ultimately credibility.
The fact that China is rescheduling debt is positive, but unlikely to convince IMF that the full picture has been disclosed. As often China likes to sit infront of any public debt, so they are keen for IMF to step in with more risk money and them collecting the "real dividends" after deducting local bribes of course.

As much as I beleive that Zanaga (and the wider region) has some incredible potential, I also realise that the likelihood of a white knight stepping in with a few billion USD to build infrastructure while not extracting the lion share of the value of resources (up front of course) is..... unlikely.

After many years of patience I'm down to a fraction of my original holding here and nursing some considerable and crystallised losses.

Anyway, I'll be keeping an eye on the company from afar.
Best of luck to you all. You certainly deserve it!

GTA.

[jack4691] 23/6/2021 06:15

22 June 2021 MINUS 10%, 'moving in the right direction' indeed! For once the TRUTH has been spoke!

[gismo] 21/6/2021 17:20

Moving in the right direction

[gismo] 21/6/2021 17:19

Well done 99icecream

[extrader] 21/6/2021 16:32

Hat-tip to 99icecream

China agrees to reschedule $2.4 bln Congo Republic's debt

hxxps://www.devdiscourse.com/article/politics/1621674-china-agrees-to-reschedule-24-bln-congo-republics-debt---minister


Xi Jinping eyes closer China, Congo Republic cooperation

hxxps://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-06-21/Xi-Jinping-holds-phone-talks-with-Congo-Republic-s-president-11hfKLu6kcU/index.html

.."China supports the Republic of the Congo converting its resources and regional advantages [= strategic location] to development advantages, Xi stated, adding that China is ready to deepen cooperation with Congo in areas such as public health, agriculture and livelihoods..."