Jacob Engel-controlled EngelInvest Group reports that its Elenilto unit has won one of the world's biggest mining tenders. Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in her annual speech before the Legislature two days ago, announced the granting of the 25-year license for one of the largest iron ore mining sites in the world to EngelInvest unit Elenilto.
The Western Cluster tender includes a group of three mines, with reserves of over 1.1 billion tons of iron ore. In two of the mines, major companies have mined in the past.
Elenilto will pay Liberia an advance payment of $ 25 million, annual payments, which were described as "social donations", of $3 million a year upon commencement of production, and 21% of profits in the project, after return of investment, with a 22.5% yield for Elenilto.
The license's economic value is estimated to be billions of dollars.
As part of the development of the mining sites, Elenilto will build a railroad track, will improve the port and invest in other infrastructure. The mining sites are relatively close to the port, at a range of between 65 and 150km,
EngelInvest is in preliminary contacts for the creation of a consortium of several international financial bodies which expressed a great deal of interest in funding and investing in the project.
The tender process started one year ago, and was recently completed after due diligence tests, and the Ministerial Committee determined that Elenilto is the winner of the tender, beating two other groups.
Amir Nagammy, CEO of Elenilto's activities in Liberia, who led the tender process, said: "This site, which we selected after meticulous testing, is one of the most attractive mining sites in Africa, both in terms of quality and access." Nagammy said that similar sites in Liberia ended up having actual reserves "several times" larger than initial estimations, claiming that "If, and as we expect, these mines will also be similar in this sense, then Elenilto is expected to hold even greater reserves of between 3 and 4 billion tons, approximately, under the license."
Elenilto is collaborating on this project with Germany's IMC-Montan Consulting GMBH, one of the world's largest international consultancy companies.
Elenilto represents the international exploration and mining activities of EngelInvest, especially in Africa, and holds exploration and mining licenses for over 9,000 square kilometers. EngelInvest owns copper, chrome, zinc, gold, diamonds, iron and other mineral ores in Israel, Albania, Romania, Ghana, Tanzania, Congo, Liberia, and Ethiopia. The company develops real estate projects in India, Vietnam, and Russia.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 28, 2010
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