Hat jemand Informationen. Habe lediglich diesen interessanten Bericht von Ende Mai aus der Nairober Zeitung "The East African" gefunden:
Congo-Kinshasa: Moto Goldmines Report 'Misleading' Investors
The East African (Nairobi)
22 May 2007
Nairobi
The controversy between Congolese mining authorities and Canadian public-listed company Moto Goldmines Ltd over the ownership of a mine located in northeastern Democratic Republic Congo, has taken a new twist as the company and research firm Haywood Securities Inc are now being accused of misleading Canadian shareholders about the true prospects of the project.
Moto Goldmines Ltd's principal asset is a minority interest in the Moto Gold Project, where exploration has outlined an 18 million-ounce gold resource in two years.
Two weeks ago, Haywood Securities Inc, which is the original financier of Moto Goldmines Ltd, put out a detailed research report to shareholders giving information on the status of the controversial project.
In the report, Haywood projected a rosy picture of the project making no mention of the fact that the government of President Joseph Kabila had suspended implementation of new major mining projects, pending a review of all mining contracts.
In terms of disclosure to shareholders, the report by Haywood made a major omission, considering the report, published on April 14, came several months after Office of the President instructed the board of state-owned mining corporation and regulator, Okimo to suspend all negotiations with Moto Goldmines and its local partner Orgaman SPRL.
The order, which was signed by the director of Cabinet affairs Nkulu Kilombo - a copy of which has been seen by The EastAfrican - was dated October 26, 2006.
The EastAfrican has obtained a copy of a letter by Moto Goldmine's Luis Watum, acknowledging receipt of the order and expressing regret at the development.
It has also emerged that a few days after the decree, on November 3, 2006, the board of Okimo signed a new agreement that amended the original one and whose effect was to change it from a consulting contract to an "earn-in" contract.
Originally, the arrangement was that Moto Goldmines would invest technical and financial resources to make Okimo a gold producing company under an arrangement where it would be paid on the basis of production revenues.
However, when the amended contract was signed, it came with a new arrangement whereby Moto Gold Mines would acquire 70 per cent ownership of Okimo's principal asset which is a resource base of 16 million ounces.
Ministry of Minerals officials in Congo have criticised the latter arrangement, arguing that it is an attempt to strip Okimo of its assets, reducing it to a mere holding company instead of a real producer and owner of the physical assets.
Industry observers in the country have maintained, however, that the agreement was technically invalid, arguing that since the Office of the President suspended all negotiations, and considering that Moto Goldmines actually acknowledged receipt of the letter conveying the suspensions from the Cabinet Office - any agreement signed thereafter was therefore invalid.
The Commission in charge of re-evaluating mining agreements started work on May 15 and will run for two months.
Other companies whose contracts are under review are DeBeers, Anglo-Ashanti, Tenke Mining, Katanga Mining and Moto Goldmines.
What has perplexed industry observers is that Moto Goldmines is yet to make any disclosure statement to the investing public.
It would appear the strategy of the company has been to downplay the dispute and give the impression that it is all a matter of differences in opinion between the Deputy Minister for Mineral Resources Victor Kassongo - who has been most vocal about the mining contracts - and Moto Goldmines local partner and chairman Sam Jona.
What is clear, however, is that the Canadian company remains badly exposed in terms of political risk - having made the mistake of signing contracts with a state-owned company while disregarding an existing presidential order.