The Congo - danger ahead for miners

[cujodog]

Real danger ahead for all the gold miners operating in the Congo. Signs that war is eminent and this will result in the region being shut down. If rebels take over operations there will be no way back for these companies.

[OneUp]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the size of Western Europe. The problems you refer to (I presume?) are along the Rwanda/IUganda-DRC border in Ituri, where the goldfields are located. Being at the north-eastern part of this vast country, it is well away from the copper belt near Lubumbashi in the south east.

The DRC is a troubled country, and any investment there is certainly not without risks.

[Zacca]

I supported a private charity (a school being setup)until about 3 years ago and can only agree with Oneup that there are risks, until then it was a hell hole. But since then there has definatly been improvements and countries do not always remain in civil war/lawlessness (ie. Lebanon, Yugoslavia)
The fact that elections are going ahead is a sign of some stability, but is also a point of high risk (ie Irac elections).
In reference to MOE which Cujodog seems slightly interested in at the moment!I would like to put the details of Moto's chairman below., He I'm sure would have weighed up the risks and odds and decided it was a worthwhile bet.:


Sir Samuel Jonah
(Non-Executive Chairman)

Sir Sam Jonah is internationally recognized as one of Africa's leading businessmen. He is Non-Executive President of AngloGold Ashanti Limited, which is one of the world's largest gold mining companies. From 1986 until 2004, when he was the Chief Executive Officer of Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited, he led the transformation of Ashanti from a one-mine operation into a multinational gold miner. He became Executive President of AngloGold Ashanti Limited in May 2004, when Ashanti was acquired by AngloGold Limited.

He currently serves on the International Investment Advisory Councils of President Thabo Mbeki (South Africa), President Kufuor (Ghana) and President Obasanjo (Nigeria). He is a member of the United Nations Secretary-General's Global Compact Advisory Council. He was formerly on the Advisory Council of the President of the African Development Bank and was also a member of the Advisory Council of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

He has been decorated with several awards and honours, including an honorary knighthood by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The award was in recognition of his exceptional achievements as an African businessman, a leading business executive from the Commonwealth and an international public figure.

Zacca

[Zacca]

For an article today on the Congo elections look at the BBC world news:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4834592.stm


For a quick history of the last 5 years click the quick guide box 'The War in DR Congo' on this page.

Zacca.

[Gofish.]

quote:Originally posted by cujodog

Real danger ahead for all the gold miners operating in the Congo. Signs that war is eminent and this will result in the region being shut down. If rebels take over operations there will be no way back for these companies.


On what evidence?

If anything things are slowly improving, with more & more companies moving into the DRC.
Its a very low base they are starting from, and will be plenty of hiccups along the way, but development of mines, infrastructure and support services is bringing money & jobs, which is in the interests of more people than what a few disaffected bandits offer.

[cujodog]

quote:Originally posted by Gofish.


quote:Originally posted by cujodog

Real danger ahead for all the gold miners operating in the Congo. Signs that war is eminent and this will result in the region being shut down. If rebels take over operations there will be no way back for these companies.


On what evidence?

If anything things are slowly improving, with more & more companies moving into the DRC.
Its a very low base they are starting from, and will be plenty of hiccups along the way, but development of mines, infrastructure and support services is bringing money & jobs, which is in the interests of more people than what a few disaffected bandits offer.


On what evidence?!! Didn't you just read the post from Zacca?! War is about to break out and it's going to be worse than Iraq.

[Mick100]

quote:Originally posted by cujodog


quote:Originally posted by Gofish.


quote:Originally posted by cujodog

Real danger ahead for all the gold miners operating in the Congo. Signs that war is eminent and this will result in the region being shut down. If rebels take over operations there will be no way back for these companies.


On what evidence?

If anything things are slowly improving, with more & more companies moving into the DRC.
Its a very low base they are starting from, and will be plenty of hiccups along the way, but development of mines, infrastructure and support services is bringing money & jobs, which is in the interests of more people than what a few disaffected bandits offer.


On what evidence?!! Didn't you just read the post from Zacca?! War is about to break out and it's going to be worse than Iraq.


You really ought to get a life cujo
,

[Zacca]

Cujodog! I did not say that civil war was going to break out,Iraq is the worst case scenario, I probably think leaning towards the opposite with 17000 UN troops there and more troops to come for the election.The surrounding nations that supported the militias have been threatened with the loss of donner aid so they have withdrawn their troops. The militias have been progressivly disarmed with a show of force and offers of money to individual soldiers who give up their arms. If there are jobs available then more will disarm, another plus for mining companies being given the green light and help from the Congolese government.

Zacca

[Gofish.]

quote:Originally posted by cujodog
[On what evidence?!! Didn't you just read the post from Zacca?! War is about to break out and it's going to be worse than Iraq.


Would have thought it was situation normal for the DRC & couldn't be worse than the things that have happened over the last 30 years.
Thats how politics works there.
Heres a couple more links:

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603220069.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/200603220542.html

As you can see, changing the country is work in progress, and there will be steps forward as well as the odd step back.

[Gofish.]

A more in depth story regarding the eastern areas.

www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/758779c48c6acf54621f70ff116bc4be.htm

[backtobasics]

Elections are due on the 30th July.

This could be a bloodbath. Good luck to those that hold shares in companies that operate in the war zone.

[bronson]

Elections are going to be disastrous.

This will go down in history as one of the world's bleakest periods.

People who own shares in companies that operate in the Congo have no respect for human life.

[Ricky99]

"People who own shares in companies that operate in the Congo have no respect for human life."

I strongly disagree with this statement. I own shares in AVM since 2003 and have a high respect for human life, but also realise the issues in workin in this type of environment.

I would suggest that you have a quick read of what AVM has done in their part of the DRC http://www.anvil.com.au/congo_community.shtml.

While I am using AVM as the example I am sure that a number od other companies are also delivering the same sorts of changes in their own regions.

The elections will be tough but when you have their sort of history of dictators what do you all expect - a beautiful first world election?

[backtobasics]

Does the term "blood on your hands" mean anything?!

[cloggs]

Cujodog/Bronson. Your clumsy attempts to downramp so you can get into certain shares are pathetic. As Bronson you announced GPG was heading for 75 cts. From reading both your laments that you never seem to get anywhere on the sharemarket it is obvious that you are the same person. Why don't you just give up.

[Ricky99]

Blood on my hands vs giving 3000 households a job to go to every day, money to buy food with and improve their lives with and 10% owenership of a longlife mine, and new skills... vs waiting for the Red Cross to turn up with food handouts...

Yep my hands are covered in blood. Mate if you have never been there, into a third world zone like this and tried to rebuild it from the ground up then you should just learn to hold your tounge, or at least explain why you believe that we all have blood on our hands