LONDON – African Minerals said a planned $1,5-billion investment in its flagship iron-ore project in Sierra Leone had suffered a further delay with China's Shandong Iron & Steel needing extra time to complete due diligence.

China has become a major investor in African energy and mineral resources, which it needs to feed its booming economy, and African Minerals announced on July 13 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding whereby Shandong would pay $1,5-billion for a 25% stake in its Tonkolili project.

Initially the companies had expected to have definitive agreements signed by September 6 at the latest but on September 15 announced delays due to problems getting teams to the country and on September 23 a new memorandum of understanding set a October 20 deadline for completing due diligence.

"The company has ... agreed to extend the date for Shandong to complete their due diligence to 10 November 2010," African Minerals said in Friday's statement without giving an reasons for the latest delay.

It said only that Shandong was "making progress on the due diligence process".

Shares in African Minerals were down 1,3% at 434,5p by 07:04 GMT.

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