Sorry for the delay but been a bit tied up. Fly out today so will attempt to get further news out at airport lounges along the way.
Brief synopsis:
World class resource.
Great team that works together well and has bucket loads of experience in similar jurisdictions.
A country in need of development and the cash flow this project can bring them.
An underlying infrastructure that is currently being built out that should work well for Canyon.I took the trip up with Shannon Green, Project Manager, and James Castiau, Canyon Country & Operations Manager. Spending the best part of a week in their company has been enlightening on many levels. The rail line we followed from Yaounde to Ngoundal is the same path that Canyon are planning on using to get bauxite back to the coast at Kribi. Their most likely solution at site will be an automated loader and a small spur line. As the project is mined the spur could be easily extended as required. PFS later this year should see all these types of details nailed down and costed.
The rail journey was a 12 hour overnight trip in a clanking sleeper up to the Adamawa plateau region. This is a very rural setting and not much industry or commerce to be found, The rails themselves have a good infrastructure corridor and they are obviously working on upgrading as metal bridges were being sandblasted and repainted, new sleepers and ballast were in freight wagons at several sidings and recently delivered new locomotives were located at the main rail yards outside Yaounde.
Half way across the country.
The newly delivered locomotives in Yaounde.
After the site visit we travelled down to Kribi port and met officials who took us on a tour of facility. The port layout is spacious and room for ore storage and a simple ship loader will be no problem. There is also an area set aside for the Sundance projects lron ore loading etc. It is plain to see that the infrastructure build is progressing and they also have major works on the Kribi section of the Canyon rail link underway. No doubt there are sensitive commercial negotiations happening between Mota Engil the builders, Bollore the operators, the Cameroonian government and Canyon. What I was able to see though was that work continues apace while these negotiations are proceeding. The photo below shows the central rail corridor down near Kribi. Obviously work is proceeding at pace
The Chinese State owned company that is building the road/rail corridor is doing a good job.
I will probably mention this a lot over forth coming posts but I was struck not only by the work on the ground and the quality of the asset but also by the conversations with officials and other interested parties from Cameroon who stressed repeatedly that the Canyon Bauxite project was one of national significance. They stated that the countries welfare and their personal reputations were all on the line in seeing the project delivered. As a share holder that was a VERY reassuring theme to hear highlighted daily.
More when I can but I'm very happy with what I have seen and while I would never say zero risk, I believe their is a high probability this project will be successfully delivered and provide something substantial for Cameroon and Canyon share holders.
(20min delay)
