Railway
A 490 km railway connection to a deepwater port is required to exploit these ore deposits efficiently. Several routes were planned using Quantm software. The railway will start at an elevation of about 650m at the mine, proceed along a fairly level alignment for 350km, drops steeply for 100 km down to the coastal plain, then traverses that plain for 50 km to the port. The gradients generally favour loaded trains.
In September 2010, Sundance Resources signed a memorandum of understanding with CRCC China-Africa Construction Ltd, which outlined construction plans for a 490 km railway linking the planned iron ore mines to a proposed port near Lolabé. Another Chinese company, China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd (CHEC), will build the port.
A two stage development of a mine, railway and port for the cross border iron ore deposits in Cameroon and Congo is estimated to cost $US7.7b.
Read more about this topic: Mbalam
Famous quotes containing the word railway:
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)