News sent to me..10 April 2006.The Chamber of Mines of Namibia...

News sent to me..

10 April 2006.

The Chamber of Mines of Namibia has identified various challenges which if not handled carefully could negatively affect the future existence of this crucial industry.

The President of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia, Mark Dawe, at the annual dinner held last Friday in Windhoek, said among the many threats currently facing the industry is the Government's imposition of royalty on gross sales without any consultation with the Chamber.

This, he said, would have dire consequences for exploration and mining operations.

Further, as exploration is viewed to be crucial to the future of the industry, it has become a great concern that expenditure on exploration has shown a decline in Namibia whereas in other parts of the African continent such as Tanzania there has been new world-class mines discovered by exploration juniors.

In view of that, Dawe urged the chamber and its ministry to welcome junior mining explorers, award them licences and work permits and provide a statutory and fiscal regime that would make them stay in the country.

Apart from Langer Heinrich, no other mine is scheduled to come on stream this year.

(WME again promising but I think problems with negotiations again? Time will tell but The President of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia, Mark Dawe thinks so and no other mine scheduled to come on stream this year, maybe 2007 for WME?)

Good luck