(Ecofin Agency) - For economic and environmental reasons, French firm Eramet stopped developing the Akonolinga rutile project in October 2023. The Cameroonian government is now looking for new ways to exploit it.

Cameroon's Société Nationale des Mines (SNM) is seeking a partner to restart the Akonolinga rutile project after France's Eramet exited the project a year ago. SNM’s managing director, Serge Boyogueno, said forming a joint venture is one option.

"SONAMINES and the partner will have shares agreed parties according to their financial and technical capacities and will share the profits in proportion to their shares. For this specific case, several strategies also exist to finance SONAMINES' counterpart in the joint venture" Business in Cameroon reported.

Eramet worked on the Akonolinga deposit for four years before deciding it was unprofitable and posed environmental risks. To address these challenges, Cameroon is exploring options such as reducing the project's size and initial investment. 

“We're going to resize the project and see how we can get 10,000 tonnes of ore out of it per year with a smaller company," said Acting Mines Minister, Fuh Calistus Gentry, last October.

With an investment of €180 million (around $200 million), the Akonolinga project could produce about 350,000 tonnes of rutile annually over five years.

Emiliano Tossou