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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 YAOUNDE 001428 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS OPIC, EXIM, USTDA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2017 
TAGS: CM ECON EMIN ETRD EINV ECOM PGOV PINR
SUBJECT: HYDROMINE: AMERICAN DEAL-MAKER FOR CAMEROON'S 
BAUXITE RESERVES 
 
YAOUNDE 00001428  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: PolChief Scott Ticknor for reasons 1.4 (d) and (e) 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Hydromine, an American project developer 
partnered with mining companies from the UAE and India, has 
been working since 2004 to develop Cameroon's multi-billion 
dollar bauxite resources and related infrastructure, 
including a railroad and deep water port.  While the Prime 
Minister tells us he is supportive, the Ministry of Mines has 
raised questions that could jeopardize concluding a broad 
convention before the company's licenses expire in March 
¶2008.  Competition from an Anglo-Australian consortium (with 
former French and Canadian ties) and possibly a Chinese firm 
is also muddying the water for Hydromine.  Given the 
increasing complexity of this deal, the Embassy has asked 
Hydromine to complete a Commercial Advocacy Questionnaire to 
lay the groundwork for likely continued USG engagement.  End 
summary. 
 
----------------------- 
Cameroon's Bauxite Saga 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Prospective developers have battled over 
Cameroon's bauxite deposits (reportedly among the largest 
proven reserves in the world) for more than 15 years.  In 
2005 Massimo Campailla, an Italian national who was rumored 
to be close to President Paul Biya, sued the GRC in 
Luxembourg courts for $2 billion, alleging breach of contract 
regarding his reported concession to identify partners and 
exploit bauxite in the Minim-Martap and Ngaoundal regions of 
Cameroon, deposits which have been known for at least 50 
years.  Press speculation suggested that French and 
Cameroonian officials associated with Pechiney, a French 
company reported to have very high level connections in 
French business and government circles, had scuttled the deal 
in order to retain their hegemony over aluminum production in 
Cameroon.  At the time, Pechiney was the major stake-holder 
(with the Government of Cameroon) in ALUCAM, Cameroon's 
aluminum smelting operation.  Pechiney, ALUCAM and Canadian 
company ALCAN have all been subsumed in Rio Tinto, an 
Anglo-Australian mining giant.  On November 12, 2007, BHP 
Billiton, an Anglo-Australian company, announced its 
intention to conduct a hostile takeover of Rio Tinto, but the 
deal still faces industry opposition and regulatory hurdles. 
 
-------------------------------- 
History of Hydromine in Cameroon 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Hydromine was founded as a project development 
company in Delaware in 2004 by Amcit Peter L. Briger, who 
also heads Briger and Associates, a New York City law firm. 
Hydromine first signed an agreement for mining exploration in 
Cameroon with then-Minister of Mines Henry Kibuh Tume in 
¶2004.  The company received exploratory licenses for the 
disputed tracts in Minim-Martap and Ngaoundal in agreements 
signed on March 9, 2005, by then-Minister for Mines Charles 
Sale (who replaced Kibuh Tume in a 2004 Cabinet shuffle and 
was dismissed this year, reportedly for demanding shares in 
the businesses with which he was dealing). 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  In 2005 and 2006, according to documents Hydromine 
submitted to the GRC, Hydromine and its partners spent nearly 
$5 million doing initial exploration and consulting, and 
lining up Dubai Aluminum Company (Dubal) and Indian company 
Hidalco Industries as its partners for the aluminum project, 
with the addition of Alminpro as a Canadian-based 
geological/engineering consultant.  Hydromine says it has 
partnered with U.S. firm Parsons Brinkerhoff (for a port 
project) and dozens of other international firms in a bid to 
expand the overall project to include the mining facility, 
conversion and transport facilities, a deep water port, and a 
power plant.  In 2006, Hydromine signed Cameroon's first-ever 
BOT agreement for the eventual construction of the 
Edea-Batanga rail line.  Hydromine reports having been in 
contact with USTDA, EXIM, OPIC, and the Departments of 
Transportation and Energy about its project in Cameroon. 
 
YAOUNDE 00001428  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
 
-------------- 
The Convention 
-------------- 
 
¶5.  (C)  Hydromine's exploratory licenses will expire in 
March 2008.  Hydromine says it is prepared to invest $20-25 
million over the next two years but only if the Government of 
Cameroon (GRC) agrees to sign a Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) and Convention of Establishment detailing the relevant 
rights and obligations, not only for the mining venture but 
for related infrastructure projects.  According to senior 
contacts in the Ministry of Mines, such a proposed convention 
is unprecedented in Cameroon, in part because it extends far 
beyond simple exploration or mining and includes diverse 
legal provisions (like land rights to construct a railroad) 
that are not linked to mining, and in part because Hydromine 
has done so little work on the site to date. 
 
------------- 
The PM's Take 
------------- 
 
¶6.  (C)  In October 2005, Prime Minister Inoni signed a 
far-reaching "letter of intent" with ALCAN, then the 
controlling share-holder of ALUCAM, that addressed various 
issues including the expansion of ALUCAM's smelting 
facilities, the provision of new electrical supply and the 
possibility of ALCAN's use of the bauxite reserves in 
Minim-Martap and Ngaoundal.  According to Hydromine's Vice 
President in Cameroon, Cameroonian national Jean Pierre 
Ndongo Zanga, portions of the GRC's October 2005 agreement 
with ALCAN (now Rio Tinto) conflict with Hydromine's rights 
under the March 2005 agreement.  A senior executive at Rio 
Tinto told Poloff on November 30 that ALCAN and Rio Tinto had 
also concluded that the agreements offered conflicting 
rights.  (Comment:  In our view, Hydromine's claim appears 
more solid since it has signed licenses from 2004, whereas 
ALCAN's claim was based on a "political" statement made by 
the President during the visit of a senior ALCAN official, 
referring to "exclusive" mining rights.  Then-Ambassador 
Marquardt repeatedly urged Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni to 
retract the political statement.  The PM did not do so, and 
his 2005 "letter of intent" seems designed to avoid the risk 
of alienating ALCAN in light of the President's positive but 
ambiguous statement.  End comment.) 
 
¶7.  (C)  Nonetheless, Ndongo Zanga showed Poloff a photocopy 
of an August 14, 2007 letter from Secretary General at the 
Presidency Laurent Esso instructing Prime Minister Inoni to 
sign the convention with Hydromine.  Ndongo Zanga also had a 
photocopy of a November 11, 2007 letter from Badel Ndanga 
Ndinga, the new Minister of Mines, recommending to the Prime 
Minister that he sign the convention. 
 
¶8.  (C)  Prime Minister Inoni telephoned the Ambassador in 
the first week of November to express his desire to address 
lingering issues with the Hydromine dossier.  In a November 7 
meeting with the Ambassador, Prime Minister Inoni said that 
the GRC was reluctant to move forward with the MOU because in 
a number of areas Hydromine had failed to live up to its 
commitments to the GRC under the March 2005 agreement.  On 
November 21, Inoni shared with the Ambassador a memo prepared 
at the PM's request by the Ministry of Mines detailing 
Hydromine's alleged shortcomings.  Ambassador shared a 
translated version of the memo with Peter Briger, who 
countered that Hydromine had met and even exceeded its 
commitments under the 2005 agreement, and he promised to 
present Hydromine's response in writing to the PM. 
 
¶9.  (C)  After receiving reports from Hydromine executives 
that the Minister of Mines was unwilling to meet with Peter 
Briger and that some GRC officials had become "hostile" to 
Hydromine's proposal, Ambassador met with Inoni on December 3 
to request clarity on the GRC's position regarding the 
negotiations with Hydromine.  Inoni clearly affirmed to the 
Ambassador that he remained committed to moving the Hydromine 
 
YAOUNDE 00001428  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
project forward, but complained that he was fighting against 
other (unnamed) officials in the cabinet who were unimpressed 
by Hydromine's meager progress to date and suspicious that 
Inoni, as an Anglophone, was too eager to push for a deal 
with any American company.  Inoni asked the Ambassador to 
urge Briger to come to Cameroon as soon as possible to 
respond to criticisms of the Hydromine project (which she has 
communicated to Briger). 
 
------------------ 
Competitors Active 
------------------ 
 
¶10.  (C)  Hydromine alleges that a network of businessmen and 
officials linked to the former Pechiney network is seeking to 
undermine Hydromine's position.  As proof of this effort, 
Hydromine officials furnished a letter signed by Celestin 
N'Donga, Technical Advisor at the Minister of Mines and Vice 
President of the "Cellule d'Appui au Programme Intgr de 
Mise en valeur des Gisements de Bauxite de Minim-Martap et 
Ngaoundal," wherein N'Donga demands that Hydromine deposit 
about $100,000 in an account at Afriland First Bank (in the 
name of the Cellule) for "Assistance en Expertise" for the 
project.  Ndongo Zanga says that this network includes senior 
officials at the Prime Minister's Office and the Presidency, 
whom he believes are aligned with Pechiney. 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  On November 30 Prime Minister Inoni and Rio Tinto 
President for Primary Metals Jacynthe Cote signed an 
amendment to the October 2005 letter of intent.  According to 
press reports, the deal provides additional access to water 
resources to enable Rio Tinto to move ahead with the 
construction of a 1,000 MW hydro-electric dam at Sonmbengue 
linked to the construction of a new smelting facility and the 
construction of a 330 MW hydroelectric dam at Nachtigal that 
would allow expansion of the current smelting facility at 
Edea.  If realized, the entire project would increase Rio 
Tinto's aluminum smelting capacity in Cameroon to 400,000 MT 
annually. In his December 3 meeting with the Ambassador, PM 
Inoni asserted that the GRC's agreement with Rio Tinto did 
not conflict with Hydromine's interests.  However, 
Hydromine's Cameroonian Vice President had earlier told an 
Embassy official that the deal allowed Rio Tinto to lock up 
the water rights needed to construct the hydro-electric 
facility necessary for a new smelting operation, providing 
Rio Tinto with effective control over any prospective 
smelting operations in the region. 
 
¶12.  (C)  According to a January 2007 local press report, the 
Chinese firm Hydro Corporation is pursuing the same resources 
as Hydromine.  In their pursuit of the contract to construct 
a hydroelectric damn at Memve'ele, Hydro Corporation was the 
target of credible reports (from a Western mission) of 
corrupt dealings with former Minister of Economy and Finance 
Polycarpe Abah Abah.  A senior executive with Rio Tinto 
confirmed to Poloff on November 11 that Hydro Corporation had 
sought to gain access to the bauxite reserves through corrupt 
relationships with (unnamed) cabinet officials.  In addition, 
a December 4 press report indicates that Chinese parastatal 
Baosteel may make a competing offer for Rio Tinto to stave 
off the creation of a Rio Tinto-BHP conglomerate, which could 
potentially strengthen the hand of Hydro Corporation. 
 
----------------------- 
Comment: Moving Forward 
----------------------- 
 
¶13.  (C)  With a multi-billion dollar mineral deposit at 
stake and Cameroon's challenging business operating 
environment, we are not surprised by the competition, 
scrutiny and complicated politics involved in the Hydromine 
deal.   The GRC is no doubt balancing its commitments to 
Hydromine and its equities with other companies in the 
aluminum sector here.  That said, two other large foreign 
mining projects -- the cobalt mining project already in 
operation by American firm Geovic and the iron ore extraction 
project (with the same rail-port facets as Hydromine) run by 
 
YAOUNDE 00001428  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
Australian firm Sundance -- have advanced far beyond 
Hydromine without similar difficulties or controversy. 
Cameroonian private press outlets have carried stories highly 
critical of Hydromine, focusing on Hydromine's reported lack 
of experience in the mining business (which from our 
information, appears true).  The enemies of Hydromine have 
always, and at every level, tried to discredit the company 
because it is a small player.  We have countered that 
Hydromine is a classic deal-maker, bringing the expertise of 
other major partners to the table. 
 
¶14.  (C)  One senior cabinet official well-known to the 
Embassy alleged that Hydromine had engaged in a corrupt 
relationship with former Minister of Mines Charles Sale, 
about whom post has received credible reports of corrupt 
dealings with other mining firms.  We have not been able to 
substantiate this troubling claim nor are we able at this 
point to satisfactorily evaluate the GRC's claim that 
Hydromine has not lived up to its license commitments (and 
the company's counter-claim that it has).  However, given 
these various claims and the increasing complexities and high 
profile of this deal, the Ambassador asked Briger to submit 
an Advocacy Questionnaire to the Department of Commerce; 
Briger readily agreed to do so.  While Hydromine is an 
American entity, the American content of the eventual deal 
appears relatively small.  Nevertheless, the USG has real 
interests in Cameroon's economic development and in fostering 
transparency and clean government, and the management of its 
bauxite reserves (and infrastructure offshoots) will have a 
major impact on the country's future. 
GARVEY