BSG Resources Limited: Statement Regarding Simandou Project, Guinea

Informations

• Publié par: bsg-resources-limited
• Nombre de lectures: 12
• Langue: English

Extrait

BSG Resources Limited: Statement Regarding Simandou Project, Guinea

PR Newswire LONDON, September 28, 2012

LONDON,September 28, 2012/PRNewswire/ --

BSGR, the wholly-owned subsidiary of BSG, wishes to reiterate its position as regards the Simandou Project inGuinea,West Africa.

Recent reports in the Brazilian media have suggested that BTG Pactual ("BTG") and B&A Minerals ("BAM") (the new mining venture created by Roger Agnelli, formerly the Chief Executive of Vale SA, BSGR's partner inGuinea) were in discussions to take an interest and role in the development of the infrastructure required for the entire Simandou complex, in contravention of the licence agreement signed with the Government ofGuinea. BSGR responded to these reports to confirm that, as it has previously stated, any attempt to illegally undermine its position inGuineawill be firmly resisted using all legal means at its disposal to protect its contractual rights regardless of the source of that interference. BSGR welcomes the confirmation from the Ministry of Mines inGuinea, BTG and BAM, that their discussions are restricted solely to the Simandou Blocks 3 & 4, in which BSGR has no interest. However, this confirmation is not consistent with reports in the Brazilian media, and specifically as published in Exame (19 September 2012, Edition 18) which had possession of the proposal submitted by BTG and BAM to the Government ofGuinea. The Government ofGuineahas recently reconfirmed to VBG their full acknowledgement of VBG'S right to export iron ore viaLiberiafrom their operations inGuinea.

Background VBG's Base Convention for Zagota and Simandou Blocks 1 & 2 was approved, ratified and publicly welcomed by the Guinean authorities in 2010. The joint venture has since met all the terms and conditions of its Base Convention. BSGR remains fully committed to its projects inGuineawhere, along with its partner, it is planning to invest$8 billionto develop a world class project which will ultimately create a low cost, high quality iron ore producer of 50Mtpa, with potential to ramp up production to 75-90Mtpa, and create 5,000 permanent jobs and indirect employment for many more. About BSGR BSG is a privately owned holding company with interests across the globe in natural resources, real estate, capital markets and the diamond industry. BSGR, BSG's natural resources company, is an international diversified mining company with operations in fourteen countries across metals and mining operations inAfricaandEastern Europe, including ferro-nickel, diamonds, copper, iron ore and gold.The group is also active in the production/exploration of oil and gas and engineering. BSGR has a fifteen year track record ofrovidin riskca italfor develoin andexecutin minin

operations in challenging environments. BSGR ha s a balance sheet of over US$4 billion, employs over eight thousand people and has created value and prosperity for its African stakeholders inSouth Africa,Zambia,Botswana, Tanzania,Nigeria,Sierra Leone, theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, and Guinea. In all of these countries BSGR has operated in a fully transparent manner, working hand in hand with host governments at both the national and local level. BSGRtakes pride in its ability to forge strong relationships with local communities and stakeholders in areas benefiting from its operations. http://www.bsgresources.com Media Enquiries FTI Consulting, Ben Brewerton / Oliver Winters [e-mail] [phone]