PLOT TO SCANDALIZE EMMALAND RESOURCES BACKFIRES …As One Rival Company Exposed

One popular mining company, and a contender of Sheini Iron Ore concession has been cited for allege sabotage and some nefarious activities against Emmaland Resources, an indigenous Ghanaian company with its Canadian partners with the focus of employing over 10,00 Ghanaian youth.

Emmaland Resources with their foreign partners Cadero Resources Corporation is a company which is currently on records with necessary work permit and prospecting license to work on the Sheini Iron Ore project in Zabzugu Tatale District in the northern region. 

For the past couple of months one of the companies, out of the twelve which was accorded the privilege to conduct a non- exclusive due diligence on the concession, led by its country Director has been complaining about some allege biases, data and information theft, official complicity and has even gone to the extent of suing the Minister responsible for Lands and Natural Resources Hon. Mike Hammer on the issue.

Some information available to this paper revealed that this company has allegedly team up with some local newspapers circulating and peddling falsehood in the industry and publishing stories with malicious intent to discredit Emmaland and Cadero to their parochial interest denying hundreds of Ghanaian youth job opportunity.

This alleged Chinese company purports to say that they are entitled to the order compelling the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to grant them license to benefit from the Sheini project.

They further argue that the Ministers' refusal if any to grant them license is an unreasonable decision and as a result unlawful.

Meanwhile, further checks exposed that this same company has published some malicious stories on some websites labeling Emmaland Resources as corrupt and influencing public officials regarding the Sheini concession. 

The publications also cited that somewhere in February 2011 Cardero Corporation and Emmaland Resources led by one Henk Van Apphen the then Chief Executive Officer of Cardero group and Mr. Emmanuel Ababio, CEO of Emmaland Resources constructed the Zabzugu/Sheini road at the time they were allegedly holding due diligence permit.

This according to the publication is amounted to bribery and corruption and that Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), a Canadian Anti-Corruption Agency, has launched investigations into the activities of Emmaland and Cardero Resources for their alleged “involvement in illegal business deal”. 

However, in an interview with the Public and International Relations Manager of Emmaland Resources Mr. T. V. Musa explained that “when Emmaland and Cardero got the license to explore the Iron deposits in the area, it was deemed an opportunity to open up the place for thriving business, offering employment to the large number of the unemployed youth in the area and also create a befitting routs to transport goods and there was no way this could have amounted to bribery and corruption”.

Mr. Musa speaking to this reporter debunked the assertion and uncorroborated allegations circulating in the media that the Cardero Resources Corporation and Emmaland Resources have been caught culpable of bribery and corruption by the Royal Mounted Police.

He observed that if there were any cases of illegal deals the Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah could have not attended the company's inauguration ceremony reiterating government's commitment to the company.

 “I wish to place it on record that the lawyer to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Mr. Leona S. Johnson has never given any contradictory statement at the court regarding who has the right to the Sheini Hills” he submitted.

He further added “these company and their aides have forgotten that a completely independent committee set up under the Mining Act thoroughly examined all inputs of the competing companies, before a recommendation was made to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources for the permit to be granted to Emmaland and Cardero, everything these people are putting out is untrue but try all means to malign and discredit Cardero and Emmaland for their own interest”.

Meanwhile, pieces of information available to The New Crusading GUIDE indicate that some officials of this rival company are dissatisfied with the acquisition of the concession by Emmaland and have allegedly team up with some unseen hands within the corridors of power pulling strings to frustrate work, thwarting the progress in the area.

Besides, in a High Court decision presided over by His Lordship, the Hon. Mr. Justice K. A. Ofori Atta revealed that although the company applied for prospecting license it was not approved. It was only granted a non- exclusive due diligence permit which the company accepted. Again when the company sent its report to the Minerals Commission and applied for a prospecting license, it was advised to apply for renewal of non-exclusive due diligence.

In addition, some portion of the High Court decision reads “a non-exclusive due diligence permit is not a reconnaissance license. In fact, the Act does not provide for a due diligence permit. Yet the Applicant accepted to do due diligence studies. At the time it was granted the due diligence permit, the Applicant knew it was not reconnaissance license. The Commission had not recommended to the minister that the Applicant be granted the license within the contemplation of section 31(1) of the Mining Act.

Further, even if the Commission had made the recommendation, the Minister was not bound to grant the license. The wording of section 31(1) of the Act gives the Minister discretion in his determination to either grant or refuse the application”

This reporter speaking to some industry players and a renowned Lawyer whose name withheld, affirmed “from all the monitoring on Emmaland and the so called Chinese company so far shows that, for the company purports to say that the Ministers' refusal if any to grant them license is an unreasonable decision and as a result unlawful has no basis because there was an independent body to take them through the procedure and once Emmaland Resources emerged as winners of the concession, is an administrative decision.

They also need to note that a non-exclusive due diligence permit is not a reconnaissance permit”.

By: Charles Addo Darko