African Minerals - Re: AMI Stream Log - Cash-strapped miner African Minerals (AMIq...

Cash-strapped miner African Minerals (AMIq + ) has announced it does not have enough money to make a $17 million coupon payment on its corporate bonds held by the BlackRock World Mining (BRWM + ) investment trust. BRWM held just 0.1% of its portfolio in corporate bonds issued by the troubled Sierra Leone miner according to its December monthly update. African Minerals said that it had 'insufficient funds to make this payment, and it is unlikely that such a payment will be made in the near future'. Analysts at Investec said: 'This highlights the seismic shift in the commodity market over the last year, with the slump in prices across the board meaning many projects are no longer viable and no doubt there will be further defaults coming down the pipeline.' African Minerals has been hit by the plunging iron ore price and tried to sell its stake in the Tonkolili iron ore mine in November, only to fail to find a buyer. Shares in the company, which are listed on the Alternative Investment Market, have been suspended since November. They were trading at 10p, down by more than 98% since hitting a peak of 651p in July 2011. M&G Recovery's + Tom Dobell was one of the fund managers to buy into the African Minerals rally, only to see his stake slump from those highs. The stock's more than 1,000% rise from the market lows at the turn of 2009 meant that by September of that year, it was firmly in the £5 billion fund's top 10 holdings. In the fund's latest annual report, Dobell had sounded an optimistic note on the stock, despite falling commodity prices, arguing the miner had put some of its operational difficulties behind it. 'We are supportive of their management teams and believe their shares will eventually get the recognition they deserve,' he said