independent reaction to the story, page-14

re: news from back then The below is worth reading in full, it sets out why Anvil got the World Banks first investment guarantee coverage for a mine. It states the critia it expects of companies fulfilling their social responsibilities and lists what Anvil has achieved to the date of writing. AVM received $5 million of this backing BEFORE the Kilwa incident. It also makes reference to the fact that Anvil had undergoing due diligence to receive these funds.

Sue the bastards Bill!!!!

MIGA Insures Copper and Silver Mine in the

Democratic Republic of Congo

MAY 3, 2005, WASHINGTON, DC�The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group, announced today its decision to provide $13.3 million in guarantee coverage for the Dikulushi copper and silver mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Half of the guarantee amount will be covered by Lloyd�s of London insurer Beazley and by Chubb through MIGA�s Cooperative Underwriting Program. This is the first extractive industries project to be considered and approved by the Board of the World Bank Group since conclusion of the Bank-sponsored Extractive Industries Review in August 2004. The guarantee also marks MIGA�s first guarantee for a project in the DRC, which became a member of the agency in 2003.

The guarantees will cover investments and loans by Anvil Mining Ltd. of Canada and RMB International (Dublin) Limited of Ireland to Anvil Mining Congo, SARL, of the DRC against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, breach of contract, war and civil disturbance. The project involves open pit mining of copper and silver ores to produce a concentrate, which will then be trucked to smelters in South Africa and Namibia for further processing. In coordination with MIGA, Anvil has established a profit-sharing mechanism to ensure that local communities will benefit from the development of the Dikulushi deposit. The company has pledged 10 percent of its interest in the mine to a trust structure. Dividends will fund a community development program administered by a local nongovernmental organization (NGO). Anvil is currently evaluating potential associations with a suitable NGO, already active in the DRC, to help implement the community development programs.

This innovative profit-sharing structure reflects lessons learned from the Extractive Industries Review. Previous models of revenue sharing in the mining sector usually involved a minority percentage payment to the central government, to be used as the authorities saw fit. This did not always translate into benefits for the local communities impacted by the development of mine sites. In this case, Anvil Mining held the view that investing in the community was just as important as investing in capital, and was eager to ensure local ownership in the investment.

�We believe this project offers significant and innovative development impacts,� says MIGA Executive Vice President Yukiko Omura. �The collaboration between MIGA, government officials, the investors, and local communities has been in the works for a long time, and we look forward to seeing the people of DRC begin to derive benefits from this undertaking.�

The community development program, which is expected to receive $5 to $7 million in funds over the next five or six years, includes investments in education, health care, and microenterprise and infrastructure development. Anvil has already begun implementation of a number of the community projects:

� A primary school of seven classrooms is 90 percent complete and now functioning in the village of Dikulushi. Construction of a preschool in the village of Lumketi (9 km north of the mine) is about to start. The mine also provides free busing between Dikulushi and Kilwa for mine staff and their families, many of whom are students.

� Anvil is funding a small clinic at the mine site for miners and their families. The facility is staffed by a part-time doctor and fulltime nurse. A preventative HIV/AIDs program is being implemented. The mine is working with Kilwa�s village council to upgrade and overhaul the clinic, which is the only facility in the district providing basic surgery and maternity support.

� Anvil has begun installing a water reticulation system in the village of Pweto and plans to extend the system to the village of Kilwa.

� The investor has begun refurbishing the regional base hospital in Kilwa.

The project is also spurring infrastructure improvements, including the construction and maintenance of a 54 km road from the Dikulushi mine to the port of Kilwa. Locals from villages located near this road now use it for travel, and a micro-enterprise biking industry has also sprung up. The project has also developed port facilities on Lake Mweru, on the DRC and Zambia sides, where the ore is transported for processing by trucks for further processing. In addition, the company has constructed a water pipeline to Dikulushi village (4 km from the mine site) and set up additional water tanks to distribute potable water. Anvil has also drilled water wells for several local villages and plans to improve the distribution of potable water to other nearby towns. This is a greenfield investment that currently employs 614 people, 590 of whom are Congolese, and 24 of whom are from various other countries. Before establishment of the mine, per capita income in the region was less than $.50 per day, derived almost exclusively from subsistence farming and fishing. Dikulushi miners are paid at levels in line with miners throughout the DRC Copperbelt. Because the mine is a new greenfield operation, MIGA�s due diligence also included an evaluation of the first phase of development, including the port sites and access roads. �This project is an important step in using the DRC�s natural resources in an environmentally and socially responsible way, while also maximizing the benefit to local communities,� says Omura.

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MIGA was created in 1988 as a member of the World Bank Group to promote foreign direct investment into emerging economies to support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people�s lives. In addition to providing technical assistance to investment promotion agencies, MIGA fulfills this mandate by offering political risk insurance (guarantees) to investors and lenders (covering expropriation, breach of contract, currency transfer restriction, and war and civil disturbance), and by mediating investment disputes. Since its inception, MIGA has issued 761 guarantees for projects in 86 developing countries, totaling more than $14 billion in coverage. Nearly 38 percent of MIGA�s net outstanding portfolio is in IDA-eligible (world�s poorest) countries. MIGA�s gross exposure totals $5.5 billion.