Australian miner Sundance Resources Limited has announced that it has agreed to extend by one month the deadline for China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to approve the proposed acquisition of Sundance by Hanlong Mining, a subsidiary of Chengdu-based Chinese private sector industrial conglomerate Sichuan Hanlong Group. Accordingly, the new deadline for Hanlong to secure NDRC provisional approval is July 31, 2012.
This extension was requested by NDRC to allow it more time to review the key terms of the Mbalam iron ore project convention between Sundance, Hanlong and representatives of the Cameroon government, the increase in resources at Mbalam, and approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) of Hanlong's proposed acquisition of Sundance.
Sundance chairman George Jones said that there was a significant amount of new information for NDRC to review, since substantial progress has been made in Cameroon, Congo and Australia in respect to Mbalam and the Hanlong transaction in a relatively short period.