Being forced invited to apply for a new exploitation licence...

Being forced invited to apply for a new exploitation licence which would in turn migrate the JV onto the 2023 Mining Code had nothing to do with the Establishment Agreement which was entered into on the 22 October 2016, nor the Mining (Exploitation) permit that was issued (under the 2012 Mining Code) on the 27th August 2019.

The Government's allegation was the transfer of the Mining Licence from Timbuktu Ressources SARL to Lithium Du Mali SA had not followed the relevant regulatory procedure and therefor "irregular!"

Excerpt from my notes, quoting Simon; "that was their claim, they believed they had a strong position we disagreed, we believed we had a strong position and we were never going to agree and thats why we settled."

The documentation is compelling evidence of why the Company would have been confident that it has had a strong case to argue the validity of the transfer, the Lawyers reports on the transfer found no faults nor "irregularities,"

3.2 - Documents;
3.2(d) a copy of a letter dated 18 February 2022 from DNGM, confirming the status of the Exploitation Licence and which states the the Exploitation Licence for lithium and certain "Group 2 minerals" remains valid and does not suffer from any irregularity with respect to the mining regulations in force; and
3.2(e) a copy of Decree N^o 2022-0199/PM-RM dated 24 March 2022, granting the formal transfer of the Exploitation Licence from Timbuktu to LMSA

4 - Opinion
After conducting our review of the relevant laws and documents outlined above in paragraph 3, we believe that;
(a) the Exploitation Licence is validly held by LMSA, which has good and valid title to the Exploitation Licence it holds;
(b) the Exploitation Licence has been validly granted pursuant to the 2012 Mining Code, is in good standing and has not been cancelled or suspended, in whole or in part;
(c) the Exploitation Licence was granted by decree under the 2012 Mining Code for a period of 30 years, renewable in increments of 10 years until the mineral reserves within the Exploitation Licence are exhausted;

Further to this: approval be Decree means nothing either .... ? ?

Transcript of the decree proceedings / protocols: translated with Google Translate

Decree N^o2202-0199/PM-RM Du 24 March 2022
Authorizing the assignment to the Company operating "Lithium Du Mali SA"
Du Lithium and Lithium exploitation licences Group 2 mineral substances attributed to the Company Timbuktu Ressources SARL
A Torakoro (Bougouni Circle)

The Prime Minister
Considering the Constitution;
Considering the Transition Charter;
Considering Order N^o 20019-022/P-RM of September 27, 2019 relating to the Mining Code in the Republic of Mali;
Considering Decree N^o 2020-0177/PT-RM of November 12 2020 setting the conditions and modalities of application of the Mining Code in the Republic of Mali;
Considering Decree N^o 2021-0361/PT-RM of June 7, 2021 appointing the Prime Minister;
Having regard to Decree N^o 2019-0642/PM-RM of August 23, 2019 granting a licence to exploit lithium and group 2 mineral substances to the Company Timbuktu Ressources SARL in Torakoro (Circle of Bougouni)
Considering the letter received dated February 7, 2022 from Mr Seydou SEMEGA in his capacity as Co-Manager of the company Timbuktu Ressources SARL, requesting the transfer of the exploitation permit for lithium and group 2 mineral substances in the sector of Torakoro (Circle of Bougouni) for the benefit of operating company Lithium Du Mali SA,

Decrees:

Article 1: The Company Timbuktu Ressources SARL is authorized to transfer to the Operating Company Lithium Du Mali SA, the exploitation permit for lithium and group 2 mineral substances which was allocated to it by Decree N^o 2019-0642/PM-RM of August 23, 2019 in the Torakoro area (Circle of Bougouni)

Article 2: The Lithium Du Mali SA operating company benefits from the rights and is subject to all legislative and regulatory obligations as well as the commitments subscribed to by the Timbuktu Ressources SARL company.

Article 3: This transfer authorization is valid for the remainder of the duration provided for in Decree N^o 2019-0642/PM-RM of August 23, 2019.

Article 4: This decree, which takes effect from its date of signature, will be registered and published in the Offical Journal.

Bamako, March 24, 2022
The Prime Minister,
Choquel Kokalla GENTLA

re: Time lines -- I agree, this was an only an issue late in the negotiations which was basically why the Company went into the 2nd trading halt, after receiving more correspondence from the Government BUT it also aligned with information I received in an exchange (LinkedIn messaging) with the Environmental Manager of Morila, ~~ was this one of the catalyst that had the Government / Company negotiations become acrimonious?

quote: "Happy to heard from you. Yes, definitely Drissa and team manage Morila as much we can up to now. After almost one year struggling with the production and the community complant because they couldn't understand realy what happing now we reaching critical point. Short of available resource no mining contractor to go deep so now our last option was to turn over to the authorities for assistance. The slurry in the pit is the main issue. The Government is awarded since the begging and after sent many invitation to Firefinch board to come on table no answer so now they are deciding for moving to next step.
Hope those explanation provided you with more details for better understanding! We remain confident that Morila will still run for long moment."


As for the Government walking in an cancelling agreements, apparently they do and it isn't only the large companies as they have shut down some Artisanal mining operations (Artisanal operations are also covered and licensed under Mining Codes)
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/general-discussion.6733915/page-10625?post_id=74499174

Barrick also is having difficulties:
https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/barrick-gold-bristles-at-malis-new-mining-code
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/ann-mou-signed-with-mali-gov-sale-of-entire-project-to-ganfeng.7991436/page-621?post_id=73805826

Cheers