And the icing on the cake may have been that a bidder other than...

And the icing on the cake may have been that a bidder other than mining contractor ME-IM (or more specifically the Malian “IM” part of that JV) was set to get the “spoils” of Morila once the current FFX board decided to walk after being frozen out by its uncontrollable local staff. If there are hidden connections we don’t know about, then IM getting sidelined on the bid after setting the perfect trap for the FFX noddies to fall into (including a deliberate go-slow while ECOWAS sanctions were in place, or use of inferior equipment etc) would surely be enough to set off the current sequence of events. It might even explain in part why the previous mining minister was jettisoned by the junta. We just don’t know but there’s hints under every stone we seemingly must force these secretive incumbent FFX directors to turn over.