French mining group Eramet announced today that the company signed an agreement with Gabon’s Ministers of Mines and Economy for the retro cession of the Mabounie rare earth – niobium deposit.
The Mabounie deposit is rich both in size and concentration. It has indicated mineral resources of 2.3 Mt of niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) grading at 1.2% and a rare earths mineral resource of 2 Mt of rare earth oxides (REO), grading at 1%.
The company said that this sale is part of the group’s strategy of refocusing on metals for economic development and energy transition.
After several years of studies, the project is now at an advanced stage of maturity, enabling a partner specializing in the recovery of these metals to take a position.
As part of the sale process, a due diligence was conducted and all tangible and intangible assets were sold to the Gabonese government.
Since 2005, Eramet’s Gabon subsidiary and manganese mining company Compagnie Minière de l’Ogooué (Comilog) has been collaborating with the state-owned mining company Société Equatoriale des Mines (SEM) to develop the Mabounie project.
KITCO / ABC Flash Point Mineral Deposit Reserves News 2022.
Finally the colonizers start to understand that the last days of doing business and making huge profits with other people’s properties is coming to an end?
But the west has many more cards on the table, as WWF “World Heritage Fund” confiscates large parts of the country. Also banks, shipping and insurance businesses still have ta tide grip on Gabon?