Only insiders would really know, but if you take Amani's current...

Only insiders would really know, but if you take Amani's current management at face value, they say they are looking at several new possible opportunities. They have some cash with a commitment to quite a bit more (or by default get the DRC asset back), so are basically starting with a clean slate, whatever the implications.

You can infer something of the problems from the issues Klaus had with AVZ. The DRC is a political minefield. Politicians there are almost always in a precarious position, and public opinion can easily turn negative when considering companies under predominantly foreign ownership that seem to have a substantial asset (even though, of course, a lot of money may have gone into locating said asset).

It's probably unfair to heavily criticize Klaus and co. The share price has been languishing through no fault of theirs, as is the case in the present economic climate for many companies without a current revenue stream. They would no doubt have been delighted if the price had boomed. The low price meant that raising further capital was perhaps no longer a realistic option, despite the progress that had been made building up a pretty good asset base. Substantial funds would have been required to either increase the resource base further or to start to get the gold out of the ground (there wasn't enough to justify large bank loans to bypass a CR). Add in the political conditions as well possibly as other practical difficulties we aren't privy to, and it must have been felt that it was no longer worth the hassle, especially given Klaus's experience with a not dissimilar - but much more financially substantial - situation at AVZ. Hence, the asset was sold to someone who evidently feels he's got a reasonable chance of making things work; Simon Cong seems to be politically well connected in the DRC, and is certainly experienced in doing business there, but he may still have his work cut out.