Yeah I get that the board may be using silence as a tactic. I don't expect them to be constantly slamming the DRC government as that would obviously be unproductive. But again it doesn't add up to me that they are silent and their lawyer is allowed to talk. Surely they can release the same information that he is saying publicly in official announcements. Or they should just come out and say that they can't comment further until everything is sorted.
Management have an awful track record of over promising and under delivering with the mining license. The initial announcement on the the 17th of May 2021 (link above) said that they expect the granting of the licence to be expedited by the DRC government. Then we had constant claims of the license being a few weeks away and Nigel's champagne at Christmas comment. I understand that they are relying on information given to them and that things change but at some point they should have wised up to the games being played and tempered expectations.
Whether you like it or not investors generally don't want the uncertainty of not being able to access funds without being told why. Look at that Maja woman on Twitter that lost 350k by forfeiting on a house. Obviously she is irresponsible for putting herself in that situation but at the same time there are others in similar circumstances and stories like that won't sit well with potential investors.
I personally know people with deep pockets either for themselves or with the investment funds they work for that constantly crapped on to me over the years about sovereign risk in the DRC. Earlier this year they were finally saying that they would consider buying when we get the license. Now they won't ever touch it even if they miss out on great returns because it's not worth the risk of not being able to access their money if they need it.
I don't expect management to swing in and out of trading just so people can access funds. I'd rather be suspended until everything is sorted but also recognise that markets wouldn't function properly if companies could just halt whenever they felt the share price would drop. We traded through all other parts of this process and in my opinion the only justification for this action was to avoid our offer to Cominiere for the 15% that included AVZ shares being devalued as I have said here previously.
As for taking the DRC government to court I should have clarified that I was referring to the comment made by Nigel in this interview (link above) released on the 29th of September 2021. In his response to the question about the license progress at 3.05 he says that the DRC government have 30 days (It says 30 business days in the the DRC mining code) from the favourable opinion being put in place to award the licence otherwise AVZ can have it issued by court order.
I support management not pursuing that legal option as it would be a terrible way to start the project. Also the chances of us actually winning that case would be practically zero. If Zijin and Cong can snack their way to favourable decisions then the government could easily provide a lifetime all you can eat buffet for the judge hearing the case.
Yes holding through these years has certainly made me tolerant to the shit we have had to endure and will continue to face. I certainly wasn't unaware when I invested that it would be a difficult operating environment and have repeatedly been reminded of that by others. I don't think anyone here is crazy for wanting to hold long term but if we are being played and this is going to drag on and on then I would be open to a take over.
Ultimately I aim to hold around 90% of my shares until dividends if all goes well with the license so if anything I am crazier than you. I just don't like the can being kicked down the road endlessly without any sort of communication or show of solidarity from the board when they have commented on matters previously.
