Senior Aussie miners missing in Africa

Former BHP Iron Ore chief executive Geoff Wedlock and Queensland mining magnate Ken
Talbot are among six Australians confirmed missing aboard a light aircraft in
western Africa.
The six mining executives were flying from Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, to
Yangadou in the Congo when they failed to arrive on Saturday.
Cameroon and Congo authorities resumed a search for the plane at 9am on Sunday
(local time), with officials from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade in "close contact".
Nine people in total were aboard the plane, which had been chartered by ASX-listed
West Australian miner Sundance Resources as part of a tour of its highly prospective
Mbalam iron ore project.
The other missing executives are believed to be Sundance Resources chief executive
Don Lewis, non-executive director Craig Oliver, non-executive director John Jones
and an unnamed Talbot Group female senior executive.
Brisbane-based Mr Talbot, the owner of mining and energy investment company Talbot
Group, was due to face a Queensland court in August charged with paying secret
commissions to disgraced former state minister Gordon Nuttall between 2002 and 2005.
Talbot Group is Sundance's biggest shareholder, with 16 per cent.
Talbot Group chairman Don Nissen confirmed on Sunday that the mining magnate and a
female senior executive were aboard the aircraft.
"The Talbot Group is working closely with Sundance Resources in their search efforts
for the missing aircraft," Mr Nissen said in a statement on Sunday.
"The family and all those close to Mr Talbot remain hopeful that all on board are
safe and well."
Talbot Group media spokesman Brian Thornton said it was hoped the plane had landed
somewhere safely but he was waiting to be updated.
"It's been 24 hours, we're keeping our fingers crossed," he told AAP in Brisbane.
"(But) it's a very remote part of the world, it's totally remote, where
communications are at very best satellite communications only.
"Communications in Cameroon are very meagre at the best of times."
Mr Wedlock, a high-profile WA iron ore executive who worked for BHP for 32 years, is
chairman of Sundance Resources as well as ASX-listed Gindalbie Metals, Gladiator
Resources and Jupiter Mines.
Mr Wedlock's wife, Barbara, confirmed on Sunday that the Perth-based executive was
aboard the flight.
She said her husband left home on Wednesday and was due back next week.
"We've had no news at all, we're still waiting," she told AAP.
Mr Wedlock was leading a delegation of Sundance board members which had been meeting
with African officials and visiting its promising Mbalam project that spans
Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo.
The plane was en route to the mine when it went missing early on Saturday morning.
The Sundance executives and advisers were in the midst of targeting steel mills and
infrastructure providers to help finance, build and operate the mine, which just two
weeks earlier had been upgraded to double its size.
The mine was set to produce 35 million tonnes of iron ore a year for at least 25 years.
Sundance Resources issued a statement on Sunday saying the families of the missing
had been notified and were being supported "during this deeply distressing time".
"Locating and ensuring the safety of our people along with supporting their families
is our highest priority," the statement added.
DFAT said its Nigerian high commissioner was in Cameroon and "managing the
(Australian) government's response on the ground".
"One additional official from our high commission in Abuja, plus a specialist
consular officer based in the Middle East, will travel to Cameroon as soon as is
possible to support the government's response," a spokeswoman told AAP.
"The specialist consular officer will bring additional communications equipment to
support the DFAT team on the ground in Cameroon."