avm makes front page news

For those that don't know I am in Canada. I sat down with my coffee this morning to read the National Post and when I get to the financial section there on the front page is a big half page color photo of a solider loading his weapon and the headline "under the gun in the congo" The following is the article as written in the post - its actually fairly positive for AVM in my opinion. The story is split between page 1 and page 8. Page 8 has a pic of BT as well.

UNDER THE GUN IN THE CONGO
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Anvil denies aiding Congo in attack against rebels

UPRISING LAST YEAR
BY D R E W H A S S E L BAC K

Anvil Mining Ltd. is defending itself against accusations that it helped the military of the Democratic Republic of Congo wage a deadly attack on rebels near the company’s Dikulushi copper and silver mine last year.
Anvil said yesterday the Congolese army “commandeered” company trucks and planes used in the military operation last October. The firm, based in Perth, Australia, and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, denied having advance knowledge of how the equipment would be used.
Human rights groups claim dozens of people in the town of Kilwa were killed on Oct. 14 after Congolese soldiers put down a rebel uprising. Kilwa is 50 kilometres away from Anvil’s 90%- owned Dikulushi mine.
“Although at the time Anvil had no knowledge of the occurrence of human rights abuses, we are now learning it was a terrible event,” the company said yesterday.
The declaration reinforces a similar statement issued on June 7, in which Anvil responded to Australian media reports connecting the company with the Kilwa incident. “The idea that Anvil somehow influenced the military action, or should be seen as complicit in the military action, is nonsense.”
The Kilwa incident highlights the difficulties of doing business in the strife-torn African nation, which is striving for political stability after years of civil war that have left more than one million people dead.
Still, several miners contend the mineral-rich country is worth this risk. Mining accounts for 25% of the country’s gross domestic product.
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., the world’s second-largest gold miner, said yesterday it will keep an exploration office in Congo. The Johannesburg-based miner has come under fire because earlier this month it admitted paying $8,000 to a local militia group.
Toronto-based junior Banro Corp. is spending $10-million to drill four gold properties in Congo this year. Just seven years ago, Banro was left reeling after the Congolese government seized the company’s mining licences. The licences were eventually returned. Now Banro says it believes political stability is returning to Congo, particularly as the country ramps up for the first democratic elections in four decades.
Anvil is also well-acquainted with the pitfalls of doing business in Congo. Just last month, Anvil secured a political risk insurance policy for the Dikulushi mine from an agency affiliated with the World Bank.
Anvil’s open-pit Dikulushi mine started operations in 2002. Located in the resource-rich province of Katanga, it produces 20,000 tonnes of copper and 1.6-million ounces of silver a year.
The mine is supposed to be a comfortable distance from much of the fighting, and Anvil considers the October incident to be a fluke. “The property is located far from the hot areas,” said Robert La Vallière, Anvil’s Montrealbased vice-president of investor relations. “I don’t know why it did, but it happened there. You had some rebels who went to the town, took over the town and made some trouble.”
Mr. La Vallière said Anvil is answering questions about the incident from the Canadian and Australian governments, as well as officials from the United Nations. “We’re providing information to them and exchanging documentation.”
Media reports say that last October, rebels seized the police station in Kilwa, then looted Anvil’s supply depot of equipment and food. The government struck back on Oct. 14. Some reports say more than 100 villagers were killed.
Anvil evacuated its own employees from the region and returned them a few days later. Mine operations were suspended for a couple of days, then resumed.
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Charlie