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      schrieb am 19.04.10 15:50:52
      Beitrag Nr. 1 ()
      16.04.10

      The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, and readying to celebrate 50 years of independence in a few months time, is tippling at the point of collapse. If its common people are the lowest common denominators on the continent, then Africa is going down. The rest of Africa and the world are as quiet as dead mice in a church at midnight on a moonless night.

      Earlier this month, the International Crisis Group argued that "the consolidation of democracy in the DRC is stalled on almost all fronts, and the Congolese regime remains fragile. When Joseph Kabila became the first democratically elected president in 2006, the international community celebrated the election as a milestone in the peace process, but today checks and balances barely exist, as the president's office has curtailed the powers of the government, parliament and judiciary".

      Civil liberties drown in countless cesspools; journalists rot in jails. Nowhere is the putrefaction more risible, were it not so absolutely true, than in the vile battle being fought over Kingamyambo Musonoi Tailings SARL, or KMT, in southern Katanga Province, host to the fabulously rich central African copperbelt, which also runs across the border into Zambia.

      First Quantum, one of the world's top 10 copper miners, along with the IFC (International Finance Corporation), and IDC (Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa) together hold 82.5% of the project; the DRC government and DRC parastatal Gécamines, La Générale des carrières et des mines, the balance. The latter two parties have not pitched so much as a penny into the project.

      First Quantum has long been insistent that it is compliant with the DRC's Mining Code, but in a September 2009 announcement, it confirmed suspension of work at the 75%-complete KMT project, after it was shuttered by government agents, cutting 700 jobs loose. Following a subsequent succession of non-physical assaults, on 1 February 2010 First Quantum announced commencement of international arbitration by First Quantum and its partners in KMT, under the facilities of the International Chamber of Commerce, International Court of Arbitration, in Paris.

      But the blitzkrieg only intensified; on February 23 2010, First Quantum, without any prior notice, received from Gécamines a "Notice of Hearing Date", and a hearing less than 24 hours later, on February 24. This time Gécamines and its sidekicks "requested the confirmation of the Lower Court judgment and also made an unsupported request for up to USD 12bn in damages to be awarded to Gécamines" and CAMI, the DRC Mining Registry. The award has been made without any evidence being presented, and without First Quantum being given any chance of arguing its side of the case.

      The DRC's courts have been sequestered by a small pack of ugly, nasty fixers. First Quantum later announced that it "believes" that a DRC appeal court had upheld a $12bn "damages" claim against First Quantum. It is hardly a secret that just two hustlers, one Congolese, and the other foreign, are the drivers behind the extra-judicial campaign being waged against First Quantum, using as weapons the very courts where justice is purportedly meted out.

      This use of courts for blatant attempted extortion is as brutal as unleashing divisions of Panzer tanks on unarmed civilians. In the Congo, the hustlers are only growing bolder. In a smaller case, it was in April 2007 that Toronto-listed Africo was made aware of a court decision out of Lubumbashi, capital of Katanga, accepting a claim by a front company called Akam that it had acquired a 75% interest in Swanmines, the entity that owned Kalukundi, the copper-cobalt deposit for which Africo had paid good money.

      The court "hearing" was all in secret. The front man was a former Africo employee, Alejandro Berardone, who had secretly been awarded damages of $3m relating to Africo's "non-renewal of his employment contract". Africo's stock price crashed. The rest is history.

      First Quantum is a lot bigger than Africo, and more diversified. It was pioneer in the resuscitation of the modern African copperbelt, after nationalisation in the 1960s on both sides of the border spewed putrescence across the mines, followed by long and comprehensive decomposition and ruination. From humble beginnings in 1996, First Quantum has grown into the biggest copper miner on the copperbelt, attracting the inflow of billions of private sector dollars to its own assets, and a good number of others.

      While the cheapshot hustlers continue to hunt down First Quantum, the DRC hosts some of the world's most alarming mining atrocities. In the Kivu provinces, in the DRC's central east, to the west of Lake Kivu, former rebels from the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) have established, in the words of Global Witness, an NGO, "mafia-style extortion rackets covering some of the most lucrative tin and tantalum mining areas in the Congo".

      The ex-CNDP rebels, who joined the national army in a totally chaotic integration process during 2009, have taken advantage, says Global Witness, of UN-backed government offensives aimed at displacing the FDLR militia from profitable mine sites. "They have gained far greater control of mining areas than they ever enjoyed as insurgents, and in many cases have retained their old command structures and political agenda", as Global Witness puts it.

      The Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) is a predominantly Hutu militia whose members are alleged to include perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, when around 800 000 people were slaughtered, mainly with hand weapons.

      Global Witness campaigner Annie Dunnebacke, recently back from a month in eastern DRC, states: "Last year's high profile offensives against the FDLR paved the way for high-ranking elements of the ex-CNDP to gain and consolidate access to mineral wealth. Control of the mines has effectively been transferred from one group of armed thugs to another - the main difference being that the new ones are wearing the national army's uniform".

      Global Witness found that ex-CNDP fighters now in charge of the 212th national army brigade are pocketing tens of thousands of dollars per month from illegal taxes imposed on civilians working in and around Bisie, eastern Congo's largest cassiterite (tin ore) mine. Most of these funds, says Global Witness, are channelled directly to ex-CNDP senior officers, including brigade commander Colonel Yussuf Mboneza, and to other high-ranking elements of the national army.

      In some parts of North Kivu, former CNDP commanders are running a parallel administration - effectively "a state within a state" - through which, found Global Witness, they are illegally levying taxes on the mineral trade and other goods. The central government has virtually no authority in these areas. The miners are enslaved, and include many children; above ground, there are child soldiers.


      "Global Witness found that the brunt of the extortion and abuse is borne by the region's civilian population. At the Muhinga cassiterite mine in South Kivu, diggers told researchers that they are forced to pay $10 each to the military for permission to spend a night working in the mineshafts. Diggers, many of whom are children, also have to pay the army to use dynamite and are forced to hand over an entire day's production each Thursday.

      "In Muhinga, workers told us they are whipped and robbed by soldiers if they fail to pay up. The army should be protecting civilians, instead they are crippling them with illegal taxes and abuse," said Emilie Serralta of Global Witness.

      It is widely, if not universally agreed, that the DRC is no more and no less than the world's Aladdin's Cave of natural resources. Yet just last month, a plan to build the world's biggest power complex, in the DRC, floundered and fell over. Western Power Corridor, a venture between five African countries, planned the first stage of the complex on the Congo, the world's second-biggest river.

      Congo's national power company said Western Power, known as Westcor, will be dissolved. "It was a big decision", Yengo Massampu, the CEO of Congo's National Electricity Society, was quoted as saying.

      Millions of Congolese continue to live in absolute and abject poverty. MONUC, the UN mission in the country, reckons that in the DRC, 1 500 people die "each day, half of them under the age of five - mostly from preventable diseases and dirty water". That's about half a million dead people a year, in a country where Mobutu, the now-deceased dictator, used to fly in from Europe jetliners filled with his favourite soda pops.

      The private sector continues in its bids to bring some sensibility into the DRC's cesspools. Last year South Africa-based AngloGold Ashanti paid $344m for an effective 45% stake in the Kibali project; London-based Randgold Resources paid a like amount for its 45% stake, leaving Congo parastatal OKIMO, or Office of Mines of Kilomoto, with the balance.

      Kibali is now a 50:50 joint venture between AngloGold Ashanti and Randgold Resources, and could start producing commercially in early 2014, after many hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent building the mine, along with infrastructure and hydroelectric power stations. Kibali is described by AngloGold Ashanti as simply "the world's largest untapped gold deposit".

      The history of privatisation in Africa generally shows an inextricable link between foreign capital (and skills and technology) and volumes of mining output.

      Gold was first discovered in Congo's Ituri district, where Kibali is located, in 1895. Industrial exploitation kicked off in 1926 under Belgian charter company, Société des Mines d'Or de Kilo-Moto, until nationalised in 1964, shortly after independence, via OKIMO. As if by clockwork, in harmony with other mine nationalisation experiences across the continent, the rot set in, immediately.

      By around 1994, when it was beyond clear that the Congo's mining sector, generally, had been comprehensively ruined by a punk kleptocracy, government announced a policy decision to allow partnerships with private companies. And that is where the story is today: in the next few years, billions of private dollars will be invested in and around the Kibali project.

      However, this is serious outback territory; security is an issue, as expressed by Randgold Resources: "The previous instability in the northeast corner of the DRC needs to be suitably addressed, and stabilised, to allow the uninterrupted building and operation of a mine".

      The Kibali project also entails building, from Doko, the mine site, a 150km road east, dipping south, to Arua in Uganda. Dare go about 150km west-north-west from Doko, to Dungu, deep in the Congo, where, to the north west, there have been horrific killing fields. In December 2009, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan lunatic rebel group, carried out a four-day attack fanning north west of Tapili.

      According to Human Rights Watch, an NGO, at least 321 civilians were slaughtered; more than 250, including about 80 children, were abducted, for use, inter alia, as boy soldiers, and female sex slaves. The vast majority of those killed in the Tapili atrocity were adult men who were first tied up before, says Human Rights Watch, "LRA combatants hacked them to death with machetes or crushed their skulls with axes or heavy wooden sticks".

      Another foul battle that has fallen somewhat into the background, for now at least, involves Freeport-McMoRan, one of the world's most admired miners, and southern Katanga's Tenke Fungurume, representing the country's biggest private sector investment of the modern era. Freeport, the world's biggest traded copper miner, is operator and holder of 58.8% of Tenke's equity; Lundin holds 24.8% and Gécamines the balance of 17.5%.

      The first phase at Tenke cost $1.8bn to build, and produces copper cathode; the mine also ranks as one of the world's most important producers of cobalt. As in the case of KMT, the DRC has been arguing for a bigger stake for itself, via Gécamines, and increased royalties. While some may see it as a technicality, the DRC is effectively accusing Freeport of playing foul in its refusal to agree to alter its Mining Convention, signed in 2003, in order to fully conform with the DRC's Mining Code, effective at a later date.

      The vermin lurk in the close background. The Mining Code has its origins in a blueprint provided by the World Bank; as such, the Code is widely seen as conforming to international mining regulatory standards. At the same time, a good portion of the capital investment in Tenke was financed by debt with covenants tied to the mine's Mining Convention. Whether Tenke's compliance issue is technical or not, Freeport is clearly standing its ground on the basis that good law is law that is certain, not law that whipsaws according to which politician is playing a new jangled tune.

      Certain politicians and officials have mumbled that some mining companies in the DRC think that they're "above the law". There are also rumours that the DRC is threatening to audit Freeport's entire investment in Tenke, an irksome idea given the somewhat strange way that business is sometimes done in the DRC.

      According to a World Bank report, published in May 2008: "Throughout its modern history, the people of the Congo have been exploited by slave traders, King Leopold of Belgium, mining companies in colonial times, and, most of all, the kleptocracy of the Mobutu years. Taking inspiration from this history and leadership, a culture of rent seeking, corruption, and impunity are deeply engrained in DRC.

      "Rent seeking takes many forms, including offers or solicitations of bribes and illicit payments to or by government officials; fraudulent declarations to the tax authorities; embezzlement of state funds; conflicts of interest of officials who have an ownership stake in companies doing business with the government; inappropriate use of position to influence government decisions; and others.

      "The pervasive culture of corruption exists at every echelon of Congolese politics and government administrative services. For those lowest in the hierarchy, such as a customs official who has not been paid for months, taking a bribe is a matter of survival. For more senior members of the hierarchy, vast sums are said to find their way to offshore bank accounts or property investments in South Africa, Europe, or elsewhere".

      Gécamines enjoys an undilutable carried interest in Tenke and is not responsible for funding a cent of project costs, in line with the convention at KMT. In accordance with the terms of the underlying agreement, Gécamines is to receive asset transfer payments of USD 100m, which had been paid down by 70% during 2008.

      In February 2008, the DRC's mining minister sent a letter to Freeport McMoRan seeking comment on proposed "material modifications" to the mining contracts for the Tenke Fungurume concession, including the amount of transfer payments due to the government, the government's percentage ownership and involvement in the management of the mine, regularization of certain matters under Congolese law and the implementation of social plans.

      Freeport responded to the letter, indicating, in its own words, that "its mining contracts were negotiated transparently and approved by the government of the DRC following extended negotiations, and Freeport believes they are fair and equitable, comply with Congolese law and are enforceable without modifications. Freeport is continuing to work cooperatively with the government to resolve these matters while continuing with its project development activities".

      In line with First Quantum, there is little if any doubt that Freeport will adopt a policy of "no retreat, no surrender". Freeport has no appetite for anything other than straight mining, a characteristic embedded in its DNA. In 1955, Freeport chartered the Cuban American Nickel Company and a subsidiary, the Moa Bay Mining Company, and invested $119m in constructing plant facilities and a town at Moa Bay, Cuba, as well as a refinery at Port Nickel, Louisiana. It was not the first time that Freeport was mining in Cuba. In 1960 Fidel Castro confiscated the Cuban facility.

      As the International Crisis Group puts it, "Unless the Congolese political authorities give new impetus to democratic transformation and institutional consolidation in 2010, the gains made during the transition could be at risk and the international investment in the giant country's stabilisation wasted".

      There are perceptions that if the cheapshot hustlers and fixers have their way with First Quantum, Tenke Fungurume will be targeted for similar criminal abuse, aimed at extorting hundreds of millions of dollars from perfectly legitimate miners, who comply with the world's most strenuous codes of corporate governance.

      Selected DRC/Zambia stocks - siehe Tabelle am Ende der Meldung: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page292676?oid=48136…
      Avatar
      schrieb am 24.05.10 23:41:46
      Beitrag Nr. 2 ()
      Congo court overturns First Quantum mine rights
      http://www.reuters.com/article/idAFLDE64L0CZ20100522?rpc=44
      Avatar
      schrieb am 11.06.10 14:35:38
      Beitrag Nr. 3 ()
      Congo Mines Ministry Creates Model Contract for Future Ventures

      June 11, 2010,

      State-owned mining companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo will retain a 35 percent stake in all future mining ventures in the Central African country under a proposed “model contract” drawn up by the Mines Ministry.

      The document will provide “an example” for all accords with Congo’s state-owned mining companies, Valery Mukasa, the deputy chief of staff for Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu, said yesterday in an interview in Kinshasa, the capital. The model was completed last month and is awaiting approval by the government, he said.

      “Thirty-five percent is the wish,” Mukasa said.

      Congo holds 4 percent of global copper reserves, is among the world’s largest producers of cobalt and industrial diamonds, and is Africa’s largest producer of tin ore, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s website. Many of Congo’s current joint ventures wouldn’t meet the 35 percent threshold and the Mines Ministry hasn’t followed the policy consistently in the past.

      The ministry’s desire to increase state-owned Gecamines 17.5 percent stake in Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s $1.8 billion copper and cobalt project in Congo is at the heart of an ongoing contract dispute between the two parties.

      In December, Congo reduced the stake of state gold miner Okimo in Kibali Goldmines SPRL from 30 percent to 10 percent. The Kibali gold project, a joint venture with Randgold Resources Ltd. and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., is the largest undeveloped gold deposit in Africa, according to Randgold.

      The model contract also requires companies to pay a signing bonus of at least 1 percent of the value of their mineral concessions to the state-owned mining partner. Joint ventures will also owe the state-owned miner 2.5 percent royalty fees on gross receipts from all mineral product sales.

      In addition, companies must agree to conform to the requirements of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the contract says. The initiative is a global standard that aims to improve accountability in the mining, oil and natural-gas industries.

      http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-11/congo-mines-mini…
      Avatar
      schrieb am 06.08.10 22:41:05
      Beitrag Nr. 4 ()
      Aug. 6, 2010

      A court-appointed liquidator said on Friday it has taken over the running of Toronto-listed First Quantum Minerals’ Kingamyambo Musonoi Tailings (KMT) copper and cobalt project at Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

      On Wednesday, the firm said a Congolese court had initiated proceedings to liquidate the $750 million project, the latest step in a row between the company and the government.

      “It’s now down to me to organise all the administration (at Kolwezi),” court-appointed liquidator Eric Monga of Trade Service told Reuters on Friday following a visit to the site in Congo’s southern copperbelt.

      “They went on site today with court sheriffs,” a source based in Kolwezi and familiar with the site, which was sealed last September, told Reuters.

      Mr. Monga, heading the liquidation team, said he has been asked to evaluate the value of the assets and report back to the tribunal as quickly as possible, but did not specify a deadline.

      “We want to determine the exact value of the assets in an objective way with the eyes of experts,” Mr. Monga added.

      Congo’s appeals court ruled that liquidation proceedings be initiated with a view to selling all the assets in documents seen by Reuters and dated July 29.

      Congo’s mines minister Martin Kabwelulu confirmed this week he had signed a contract, yet to be given a presidential decree, that hands the site to a company registered in the British Virgin Islands named Highwinds Properties.

      First Quantum has initiated international arbitration proceedings at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris.

      The dispute began when authorities shut KMT last September after a protracted review flagged contract irregularities and production delays at the site, which has never produced metal on a commercial scale.

      http://www.financialpost.com/news/Congo+liquidator+takes+ove…


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