Delta Mining Consolidated Ltd. said it quit plans to develop the Western Cluster Iron Ore project in Liberia after the government added bidding terms it couldn’t meet.
“One of the requirements was a large cash guarantee, which wasn’t do-able in the short time we had available,” Delta director Bernard Swanepoel said by mobile phone today. “This specific project is now out of our hands.”
While Liberia previously named Delta as preferred bidder, it reversed the decision last year, saying on Sept. 15 that the bidding process may have been compromised. The government last month cleared the Johannesburg-based company of all alleged improprieties, prompting Delta to withdraw a legal order preventing the government from re-tendering the project. Companies had until May 15 to bid.
“Liberia remains a country with iron ore opportunities,” Swanepoel said, adding the government has “pointed out one or two projects” Delta may be interested in.
The Western Cluster project consists of three deposits and two idled mines. The mines on the deposits closed in 1976 and 1985 and their equipment was sold as scrap during Liberia’s two civil wars, the last of which ended in 2003.
Source: Bloomberg
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