regardless of which law is used to confirm the legal title the underlying issue here is the fear the Angolan gov't will reneg on deals... Given their major push to engage the rest of the world and push for foreign investment it would be out of line with their goals to be seen renegging on deals... particularly deals sealed up very recently. It would undermine business confidence to a huge a degree. Even if it's only a small player they screw. Larger players will be very hesitant to commit funds after such an event... Not an outcome that is in Angolan interests at all.
The worry is not about reneging on deals Shadders, but having additional social costs foisted upon them - eg. the ground may yield such a high reserve that they feel that CVI could be stung for the building of a hospital, school, sanitation plant etc - or the bribes to ensure that they don't have to pay for these items.
The business obligations need to be set up front so that the government bodies (down to their local government representatives) know what they will be receiving from the company and that it is all above board.
It is a requirement and appropriate to pay some social costs for projects - these simply need to be know up front so that they can be factored into the cost of doing business, rather than having nasty surprises when you want to actually start a mine.
Cheers
CVI Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held