nacra: "Can anyone tell me why the Mining conventions/Permits have not been issued yet?" I think that Cameroon is no problem, Congo is the unknown. On 28/11 they held an election. Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo’s first elections in five years may spark political and ethnic clashes, testing the stability that helped Africa’s second- biggest copper miner boost output five-fold since the last vote. The United Nations and Congolese rights groups say violence is likely after today’s vote, which pits incumbent President Joseph Kabila against 10 challengers. Prolonged conflict may destabilize an economy that attracted $2.9 billion of foreign investment last year, a more than 10-fold increase since 2006. Congo held its first multiparty elections in 40 years then. Congo boosted copper exports to 500,000 metric tons from 100,000 tons during those five years, according to central bank data, as companies including Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., Glencore International Plc and Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. expanded projects in the Central African country. Congo has about 30 percent of the world’s deposits of cobalt, used to make rechargeable batteries, and 4 percent of copper reserves, most of which are located in the southeastern Katanga province. “Should post-election protests take a violent direction, further questions over Kabila’s legitimacy will be raised, which will have a negative impact on investment and expansion plans in the medium term,” Mike Davies, associate director at Maplecroft, a Bath, U.K.-based research group, said in an e- mail. “After several years of relative stability, major political violence in Katanga will represent a shift in the base case on which current investments have been made.”
SDL Price at posting:
40.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
