mining review, page-2

Analysts comments in addition to previous article:

DR Congo plans quick solution to mining contract review
5 February 2008
Source :AFX International Focus

The Government of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said it plans a 'fast track' solution for its review of all mining contracts.

'Each company will be able to put its case for reclassification, with minimum conflict and minimum delay,' said Victor Kasongo, Vice Minister of Mines, at the Indaba mining conference in Cape Town.

He said each company will be contacted in the near future.

The new process will include a brief and open appeal process, he said.

The government of Congo previously said it would review about 60 mining contracts signed during the civil war in the resource-rich country.

'We all need the mining contract system in the DRC to be legal. To be frank, what caught us by surprise when the Review Commission started to look at the contracts in detail, was the scale of the problem that we had inherited,' Kasongo said.

'We had expected to be able to concentrate our efforts on rectification of a few contracts. We actually found that we had not a single contract that was properly constituted. What was meant to be a minor corrective has turned out to be multiple, major surgery.'

Brock Salier, an analyst at Ambrian Capital, called the move a major change.

'Until now, mining companies and investors have been awaiting the outcome of the Licence Review Commission. Now it would seem that this process has been abandoned and a new potentially faster process has been initiated,' he said.

'In the medium term, we are also encouraged that the DRC does not appear to be following the route of South African and Zimbabwean empowerment, indicating that local partnerships are adequate,' he added.