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DRC says Brinkley uranium venture 'won't progress'

By: Liezel Hill
Published: 8 Oct 07 - 11:53

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has fuelled undercurrents of concern regarding the security of investments in the country, by announcing on Friday that a “questionable” mining joint venture between UK-based Brinkley Mining and the country’s Atomic Energy Authority (CGEA) “will not be progressing”.

Brinkley said in July this year that it had signed an agreement with the CGEA to form a uranium exploration and development joint-venture company.

However, in a statement released by public relations firm Bell Pottinger, the government said that it had determined that the agreement between Brinkley and the CGEA did not meet “the highest standards of integrity”.

Further, the Commissaire General of the CGEA, Professeur Francois Lubala Toto, who negotiated and promoted the relationship with Brinkley Mining, and scientific director Professeur Leopold Makoko Moyengo, had been dismissed, and were currently the focus of a criminal investigation into the origins and terms of the agreement.

However, in a statement also issued on Friday, Brinkley said that, while it had seen the press statement, it had not received any confirmation from the government of the DRC that the joint venture would be cancelled, and was seeking further clarification from the CGEA.

The DRC is conducting a review of about 60 existing mining contracts, and seeking to determine the validity of mining permits, in an attempt to “clean up” and “stabilise” its mining industry, which had been damaged by years of political instability.

“This [the Brinkley] enquiry has been in progress for some time. Just as my colleagues in the Ministry of Mines are moving to ensure that the mining industry is based on deals that have been fairly and properly transacted, so must we ensure that all nuclear issues are managed according to the law,” said DRC Minister for Science and Higher Education Sylvain Ngabu Chumu.

Source: http://www.miningweekly.co.za/article.php?a_id=118523