I have been a speculator in Mali based gold producer RSG at...

I have been a speculator in Mali based gold producer RSG at various times over the last 10 years, and the attitude of the Mali govt has hardened a lot over time in terms of various tax disagreements RSG faced. While RSG disputed the demands, they have generally paid up because there is not a whole lot they could do given their need to meet loan obligations.

Reading this thread iss interesting and its clear that the new mining code etc is there to extract even more from foreign based miners.

It appears that LLL may have to reduce its beneficial stake in the project to only 29.25% (assuming a 35% Mali stake), and the JV will face some tough operational and tax issues, paying various royalties to govt/communities, income tax, VAT, import duties, and probably divident withholding tax. In addition the way the govt calculates compensation for Mali acqusition of its intersts in excess of the initial 10% free carry is now not related to fair market value but some far lesser compensation system.

It is likely that even if the full force of the new code does not apply to the current LLL mining plan, then it may apply to any proposed expansion of that plan that has not yet been approved.

I may still be interested in buying some LLL shares, depending on how things turn out, as a hopium trade. Does anybody know what the tax rate, royalty payment rates and dividend withholding tax that apply to this project. Thanks in advance for any info.

GLA.

loki