Mining Licences - MSN, page-48

Looking again at these darn Tanzanian Mining Act requirements, there are two things that stick out, and which everyone appears to be politely skating around.

The first is the size of company which will force application for a Mining Licence under the "Special Mining Licence" category. Some people seem to think this is related to the market cap of the company. It isn't. The US$100m figure, requiring a "Special Mining Licence" is the capital investment for the project. So, according to the PFS, MSN is right there, by a big margin, and there is no way out.

The second is more subtle, and has been virtually ignored so far. Under the Act, a licence can only be issued where there is at least 25 % share ownership by Tanzanian nationals. Think what that 25% shareholding law means. It's all very well to be socially responsible, and talk nobly about paying our taxes, but I have not yet seen anybody who wants to voluntarily donate 25% of their shareholding to the "widows and orphans" (read: the ruling elite) in Tanzania.

Do you?

Cheers, Prime1