To those who think there’s a chance the 2023 mining code applies to LLL, in particular the ownership percentage (i.e. is it max 20% or 35%), happy for you to respond to my post with your views citing the specific articles in the 2023 code backing your view.
Don’t bother responding if your argument is something like “yeah but the Junta”, “this is Africa”, “don’t invest in Africa”, “this is the next AVZ good luck”.
I’ve given my conclusion first for those that don’t want to read all the below. In short, I think the current correspondence between Mali and LLL is only about the Establishment Agreement– whether the EA is still applicable or not and it’s not about Mali taking additional ownership.
Thanks to@MM0 for doing most of the work, I mainly used their posts.
My reasoning:
Based on my light reading of 2023 code, in respect specifically to ownership, LLL is still under the 2012 code and Mali are not entitled to increase their ownership by an additional 15%.
Per article 80 of the 2023 code, they have 12 months from the date of issue of the operating permit to exercise this option (to acquire the additional stake). The operating permit for Goulamina was issued in 2019. With the way it’s written, my reading is this is a forward looking statement from 2023 onwards, not backward looking.
Article 82 of the 2023 code literally says “The newly created operating company”. LLL is not newly created.
Article 205 of the 2023 code says Mining titles valid before this code are still valid. LLL was issued under the 2012 code.
Article 218 of the 2023 code says the provisions of the Mining Code (2023) “have a greater legal value” than Establishment Agreements. I take this to mean the 2023 mining code supersedes/takes precedence over EA’s.
It goes on to say Valid operating permits remain subject to the “provisions of the legislative and regulatory texts governing their issuance” for the remaining duration (of the permit). I.e. in other words the 2012 mining code applies until the permit expires and needs to be renewed.
As @MM0 points out there’s confusion here as Article 205 says “Establishment agreements valid before the date of entry into force of this (2023) Code remain valid for their remaining duration and benefit from the stability of their tax and customs regimes, contained in the establishment agreements” but Article 218 says the 2023 code has “greater legal value” than Establishment agreements.
Per the LLL 4th Sept announcement, LLL thinks the Mali government is not being consistent with the Establishment Agreement, but I think this where the problem lies, confusion between article 205 & 218 of the 2023 code. Are EA’s executed prior to the 2023 code valid or not?
I have a feeling this (and only this, based on the information on hand) is what the current correspondence is about between Mali and LLL – whether the EA is still applicable or not and nothing to do with Mali taking additional ownership (which based on my reading of the 2023 code, per my comments above, they can't do).
(20min delay)