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AngloGold Ashanti acts on DRC allegations Posted: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 [miningmx.com] -- AngloGold Ashanti CEO Bobby Godsell today (Wednesday) committed the group to pulling out of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) if it had to pay bribes to armed militia groups in order to be able to operate there. "Should we find ourselves in a situation where there is pressure on our staff again to yield to extortionate demands, we will consider that to be grounds for our withdrawal from the exploration project," he said. This follows a report by US-based NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleging that AngloGold Ashanti has been supporting an armed group - the Lendu Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) - which HRW says is responsible for "crimes against humanity," including the murder of civilians. The FNI is one of four rebel groups operating in the Ituri province in the north-east DRC which is where AngloGold Ashanti is exploring on the Kilo-Moto Concession 40 which it holds. The company has set up a 30-man field base near the town of Mongbwalu which is where the FNI has its headquarters. HRW alleges that AngloGold Ashanti provided logistical and financial support to the FNI and cites specific payments of US$8,000 as well as a "levy" paid by the group on material brought in through Mongbwalu airport. The HRW also contends that AngloGold Ashanti effectively established a relationship with the FNI to allow its staff to operate safely in the region and, as a result of these actions, could be in breach of the United Nations arms embargo on combatants in the DRC. Godsell acknowledged the payments had been made but rejected the allegations that AngloGold Ashanti had established a relationship with the FNI. "We draw a distinction between support for a group such as the FNI and some level of unavoidable contact. AngloGold Ashanti does not and will not support militia or any groups whose actions constitute an assault on efforts to achieve peace and democracy," he stated. AngloGold Ashanti staff paid over the US$8,000 after an armed FNI party came to the field base demanding the money and the staff were concerned for their own personal safety. The airport levy amounted to around US$1,000 in total and was stopped in September last year when management found out about it. Godsell said AngloGold Ashanti closed down operations for seven weeks at the beginning of this year after the FNI extorted the US$8,000 payment. He stressed the company had gone into the region in the first place with the full support and encouragement of the DRC government. AngloGold Ashanti restarted exploration efforts after a large-scale deployment of DRC government troops into the region along with troops from the United Nations MONUC force. "We have returned because we think it's possible now to operate there with integrity, that is without having to pay bribes," Godsell said. Reason for AngloGold Ashanti's presence in the region is that the north-eastern DRC is a rich greenstone gold belt where a number of mines operated until they were closed down during the 1960's when the former Belgian Congo collapsed into anarchy. The gold belt is split into three sections. In 1996, Ashanti Gold Fields - which subsequently merged with AngloGold to create AngloGold Ashanti - picked up Concession 40 which covers an 8,000 sq km chunk in the south around Mongbwalu. Subsequent unrest forced Ashanti to abandon the region but it went back in from 2003 and exploration work started in earnest at the beginning of 2005. The HRW report notes that a number of other South African mining companies are involved in the region but does not name them. One of them was Tokyo Sexwale's Mvelaphanda Resources (Mvela) which acquired some interests in the Ituri province. Investor relations executive James Wellsted says Mvela subsequently decided not to get involved after a strategic review of operations.
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