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DRC govt slams leaked licence report
Allan Seccombe
Posted: Tue, 06 Nov 2007
[miningmx.com] -- THE mining licence review process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been damaged by a leaked early draft of the Review Commission's report and the Ministry of Mines expects a large number of the companies operating there will continue to do so once "all irregularities have been corrected", said mines minister Martin Kabwelulu.
Newswires Reuters and Bloomberg have reported on a leaked preliminary draft of the Commission's report, saying 37 of the 61 contracts under review need renegotiating while the other 24 should be terminated.
"The speculation is not based on any official document, but on a leak of an early draft from within the Commission. The government deplores the leaking of this draft and the uncertainty that it has understandably created," Kabwelulu said in a statement.
Shares in companies operating in the DRC have fallen sharply
since Friday as investors took fright on the leaked news.
"The review process has been damaged by this grossly misleading leak of information, but the DRC remains determined to manage the license review responsibly and to the benefit of all responsible companies," Kabwelulu said.
“It is expected that, after all irregularities have been corrected, the great majority of companies currently in
the DRC will remain in the country for the long term. This has been and will remain the position of the government.”
Metorex, which has the Ruashi project in the DRC copperbelt, called the leaked report an "unauthorised breach of protocol", said CEO Charles Needham.
"The report of the Commission still requires discussion and amendment prior to presentation to the government and release by it," he said.
Other companies have said they would wait until the official report into their licences before commenting.
"The fact the report was leaked was bit of a surprise. The market hates uncertainty. It maximises the problem for the DRC," said Clive Newell, president of First Quantum.
The government launched the review process to ensure the contracts agreed during a six-year war, which ended in 2003, and a three-year transitional government period are above board.
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