The Nkamouna Cobalt, Nickel and Manganese project to be developed by Geovic Cameroon (GeoCam) has recovered from the effect of the global financial crisis, the company authorities indicated at the Yaounde Hilton last Thursday.
A lot of promising news was announced at a public ceremony where Conrad Houser was presented as new Interim GeneralManager of GeoCam. In effect, GeoCam intends to accelerate the process towards mineral extraction as soon as the feasibility plan is completed by the end of the year. Among the major developments of the project, is the construction of a refinery to process cobalt, nickel and manganese produced in Nkamouna, a few kilometers after Lomie, East Region. The Board of Directors’ meeting that held a day before the presentation of the new Interim General Manager voted 3.5 million dollars (about FCFA1, 8 billion) in supplementary budget to finance the factory, according to Gregory Hill, the company Board Chairman. The refinery will enable the company to “sell fully refined product with attendant increase value”, Gregory Hill said. He did not say when exactly the construction of the refinery will commence. GeoCam, according to Conrad Houser, the new Interim General Manager, over 400 Cameroonians will be employed at the beginning of the refinery construction. Geovic Mining Corp identified the Nkamouna deposit in 1994 and formed GeoCam with local partners in 1995. In 2006, the company took its current form as Geovic Cameroon plc or Geo- Cam with Cameroon’s National Investment Corporation (SNI) as partner representing both the government and local shareholders with total shares representing 39.5 percent. GeoCam’s mining permit covers 1,250 square kilometers and provides exclusive production rights to seven large cobalt- Nickel-Manganese deposits, the company website said. Nkamouna’s proven and probable ore reserves are 54.7 million tons at average grades of 0.25 percent cobalt, 0.69 percent nickel, and 1.33 percent manganese. This reserve yields 11.7 million tons of concentrates grading 0.74 percent cobalt, 0.99 percent nickel, and 3.78% percent manganese suitable as a feedstock for the Company’s unique processing facility, the website said.
