(Business in Cameroon) – G-Stones Resources S.A., the mining company developing Cameroon’s Grand-Zambi iron ore deposit, anticipates its first exports will begin in August 2025. The announcement marks a significant step for the project located in the country’s southern region.
“At the end of June 2025, we will begin processing this shipment in our enrichment unit, for the first exports scheduled for late August-early September 2025 via the port of Kribi,” said Éric Igor Ngantchou, Head of Studies and Project Management at Bocom Group, G-Stones Resources S.A.’s parent company. He provided the update on May 15, 2025, during a panel discussion in Douala titled “Cameroon’s Mining Sector: Economic Stakes, Local Processing, and Benefits for the Population.”
On the sidelines of the event, co-organized by economic intelligence firm Innogence Consulting, law firm Nya & Co Law Firm, and Cameroonian compliance expert Lucie Nzongang, G-Stones Resources S.A. confirmed that the Grand-Zambi deposit has already yielded 600,000 tons of raw ore, currently stored on-site. The deposit has been under development for several months in the Akom II and Bipindi districts of the Ocean department in Cameroon’s South region.
This revised timeline pushes back initial projections. A delegation from the Port Authority of Kribi (PAK) visited the Grand-Zambi mining site on January 17, 2025, at which point project management had aimed for exports by June 2025.
Although the Port of Kribi does not yet feature a dedicated mineral terminal, port officials assure that existing facilities at the multipurpose terminal are ready to manage the initial shipments. “We recently commissioned the second container terminal at our port, which has allowed us to triple its capacity in seven years. We are therefore ready to handle G-Stones’ first shipments,” explained Patrice Loumou, Head of Foresight and Industrial Development at the Kribi Autonomous Port.
G-Stones Resources S.A., controlled by Cameroonian billionaire Dieudonné Bougne, operates under a 14-year mining license for the Bipindi–Grand-Zambi iron ore deposit. The site boasts estimated reserves of 150 million tons with an average grade of 29.45%. The company’s strategy includes an annual export target of 2 million tons of iron concentrate.
Frédéric Nonos
