This shows the pressure the more rational members of the Nam govt are under from "radicals" within the ruling SWAPO party. Its pretty much nonsense to accuse foreign firms of sitting on undeveloped deposits- this is not allowed under the licencing regime, which is a use it or lose it system. This used to happen before independence under the old South African licencing system. In the early 1990s I met one old prospector, George Swanson, the son of the discoverer of the O'Okiep copper mine in SAfrica, who had all kinds of minerals under licence, including a unique blue-lace agate quarry, which he was reluctant to divulge to the new independent govt until it established its new mining law in 1992. Now, if a company finds a deposit of value which due to market conditions is not economic to develop at that time they can apply for a mineral retention deposit licence. Apart from uranium, Aussie and other juniors are currently evaluating significant iron ore, manganese, marine phosphate deposits el al, moving from exploration to feasibility as fast as they can!
EXT Price at posting:
$7.70 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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