AVZ Discussion 2022

[Frank]

The Chamber of Mines of the Federation of Enterprises of the Congo (FEC) closed, on Thursday, October 20, 2022, in Kinshasa, a mining forum focused on the theme: "Mining activity in the DRC and its challenges: evaluation of the revised 2018 Mining Code".​

At the end of these meetings, several recommendations were made by the four committees set up for this purpose. These are the Mining Law Commission; the Energy, Transport and Logistics Commission; and the Taxation and Customs Commission.

First: Mining Law Commission

At this level, six problems have been identified:

- the problem of access to the exercise of Mining and Career Rights: it was recommended to revise Article 23 bis of the Mining Code by clarifying the conditions reserved for legal persons under Congolese law and those required for foreigners.

- the interference of unauthorized services in the administration of the Mining Code and its implementing measures. Here, it is necessary to clarify the services under each department authorized to intervene under Article 16 of the Mining Code.

- the problem of the invasion of the perimeters of mining and quarry rights: To remedy this, participants suggest that it is necessary to accelerate the creation of several viable EASs and prune point e of Article 30 of the Mining Code and diversify the economic activities of craftsmen.

- failure to meet deadlines in the procedure for granting mining or career rights and issuing mining and career titles. In this regard, they believe that the Mining Cadastre should be instructed so that this service complies with the deadlines provided for in the legal texts and the provisions relating to the granting officio.

- the industrialization of the mining sector: provisions laying down the content of the industrialization plan as well as the procedures for filing, approval and monitoring of this plan must be included in the mining regulations.

- the institution of artisanal exploitation areas: the provisions requiring the Minister to request the opinions provided for in Article 109 of the Mining Code must be respected.


The whole article can be read here:

Forum d’évaluation du Code minier : la Chambre des Mines de la FEC recommande la suppression de toutes les taxes redondantes

La Chambre des Mines de la Fédération des Entreprises du Congo (FEC) a clôturé, le jeudi 20 octobre 2022, à Kinshasa, un forum minier axé autour du thème : « L’activité minière en RDC et ses défis : évaluation du Code minier révisé de 2018 ». Au terme de ces assises, plusieurs recommandations...

zoom-eco.net

*Great article, Well done on "Digging it Up" Thanks for sharing Bro

*All Spelt out in Black and White in plain English anyone, even a President can understand

The problem of the invasion of the perimeters of mining and quarry rights:

To remedy this, the participants suggest that it is necessary to accelerate the creation of several viable ZEAs and prune point e of article 30 of the Mining Code and diversify the economic activities of craftsmen.

Non-compliance with deadlines in the procedure for granting mining or quarry rights and issuing mining and quarry titles.

On this subject, they consider that the Mining Cadastre should be instructed so that this service respects the deadlines provided for in the legal texts and the provisions relating to the granting of office.

*To add,

Five issues were identified: – the problems of the insufficiency in the supply of electrical energy in quantity and quality to cover the growing energy demand of mining companies.

Here, it was recommended in the short term to rehabilitate existing hydropower plants through Public Private Partnerships (SNEL and mining companies).

 

[John25]

Good man, thanks. I couldn't for the life of me remember where I saw the dates for all the roadshows.

They’ve squeezed a NZ Roadshow between Perth & Brisbane

 

[Carlos Danger]

There is a lot to talk about. So many project parts evolved.
Recall, that this Australian roadshow was supposed to be done earlier this year but Nigel was lured to Germany?

Things have changed for the company since earlier in the year. There has been more than enough talking done by management prior to the suspension. It would be best if they focused on action in the DRC if they don't have important news to discuss at the roadshows.

 

[Dazmac66]

The money raised through a potential sale of CDL would be used to fund building the mine for RD imo

This would mean less money borrowed through bank loans and minimal payback period.

I would think selling 70/80 CDL would yield enough to build 5 mines. Anyway interesting topic for discussion down the track.

 

[Carlos Danger]

I would think selling 70/80 CDL would yield enough to build 5 mines. Anyway interesting topic for discussion down the track.

I reckon any potential buyer would want a decent discount considering they would still need to go through the mining licence process. Any money leftover would most likely go towards building the processing plants. Shareholders wouldn't get anything at this stage.

 

[Onthefm]

The money raised through a potential sale of CDL would be used to fund building the mine for RD imo

This would mean less money borrowed through bank loans and minimal payback period.

You would hope no payback period. So dividends from first production. But do we own rd ? Who fucken knows.

 

[ChrisU]

Things have changed for the company since earlier in the year. There has been more than enough talking done by management prior to the suspension. It would be best if they focused on action in the DRC if they don't have important news to discuss at the roadshows.

Personally, I want to hear about the cashflow plan

 

[cruiser51]

I reckon any potential buyer would want a decent discount considering they would still need to go through the mining licence process. Any money leftover would most likely go towards building the processing plants. Shareholders wouldn't get anything at this stage.

I don't know if people are aware that initially there is a limit on the amount of product that can be shipped ex Manono.

Suppose if they develop simultaneously 2 massive mines, who will be able to transport what, where and how?
Who will be able to utilise the power generated at Piana Mwanga?
Just a few minor points.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Personally, I want to hear about the cashflow plan

Personally, I think carting around multiple overpaid board members to 5 cities to discuss the cash flow plan when shareholders haven't been able to access their money for 6 months would be an insane move by management. That would be better being done at the AGM or in an announcement.

 

[Mr Inappropriate]

Give me that TO . Who's out of here for $1.50 ?

You’re missing a zero, wombie.

 

[CashKing]

Personally, I think carting around multiple overpaid board members to 5 cities to discuss the cash flow plan when shareholders haven't been able to access their money for 6 months would be an insane move by management. That would be better being done at the AGM or in an announcement.

Totally agree Carlos, wtf is the point of that ?
We either get on with building a mine & put that bag money towards that, Or go on a Fucking road show to try sell the joint for a little higher than the offers that have come in!

Ohh but we can’t speak about that hey Nige….

Fuck it off Nige Go on…

GLTAH

 

[wombat74]

Personally, I want to hear about the cashflow plan

Baby steps first mate . In case you haven't noticed we got people trying to kill us .

 

[Hudnut]

You’re missing a zero, wombie.

$1.500?

 

[Doc]

Don’t forget AVZ are just proposing to conduct roadshows. Nothing locked in yet as far as I’m aware…I’m guessing they don’t get the news out of DRC they want next few days then roadshows will be postponed….again

 

[RHyNO]

How’s that afr article!
Zijin Mining confidently looks forward to the ICC hearing in April 2023 and expects AVZ’s abuse of Zijin Mining’s 15 per cent stake in the Manono project as alleged will be addressed,” Zijin’s in-house legal counsel Sun Kuiyuan said on Thursday. “Zijin Mining is disappointed with AVZ’s lack of cooperation with the minority shareholders of the Manono project.

Why the fuck don’t management comment and push back on this! Sorry but this is a fucking joke. These proceedings have been in the works longer than we have known. Nigel has to open his mouth for something other than sucking down his fucking pay cheque and free shares

 

[Bin59]

 

[Bin59]

Belgium - 8th edition of Rebrading Africa Forum: Julien Paluku calls on African countries to pool forces to leave the economy stage from imports to the local transformation of natural resources
Sunday, October 23, 2022 - 13:54
ECONOMY
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Julien Paluku, Congolese Minister of Industry. Ph. Third-party rights.

The work of the 8th edition of Rebranding Africa Forum ended on Friday, October 21, 2022 at the Parliament of the Wallonia Brussels Federation in Belgium. Focused on the implementation of investment attractiveness strategies by African countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo was represented by its Minister of Industry Julien Paluku Kahongya.

On this occasion, Julien Paluku shared the experience of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the process of installing a first factory to manufacture electric battery precursors in the province of Haut-Katanga and the establishment of Special Economic Zones that offer tax, parafiscal and customs advantages to investors, by developing the Master Industrialization Plan of his country valued at US$58.4 billion.

"At the level of the Ministry of Industry, we considered that from now on, the will of all African countries will have to be to start by transforming our resources at the national level and thus be a partner at the level of added value because at that time, African economies will no longer undergo these fluctuations that are imposed on us according to each other's moods. It is enough to see today with the Russian-Ukrainian crisis all countries suffer from wheat deficiency, that is why, for example, our country the Democratic Republic of Congo has found substitutes for wheat flour, it is Manioc bread flour, it can surprise many people here, we have started the experience in the DRC, we voted on a standard that effectively requires the introduction of 5 The DRC is a solution country. Why country-solution? We have the necessary elements in this energy transition, the first element we have the 2nd largest forest in the world after the Amazon, that is to say, we absorb enough carbon dioxide in order to regulate the environment at the global level," he said in his intervention before the audience.

And to continue:

"The second element that makes the Republic a major element in this energy transition is today in Europe as everywhere else everyone wants to get out of thermal motor vehicles in circulation, they must be replaced by electric vehicles and again the elements that come into the composition of these electric batteries are in particular Cobalt, Lithium, Manganese Etc. We have in the Democratic Republic of Congo 70% of the world reserve of According to Bloomberg, if it is necessary to install a power battery manufacturing plant in the USA, it would cost USD 117 million, the same plant in China $112 million, the same plant in Poland $65 million on the other hand, the same plant under the same conditions in the DRC would cost only $39 million, it means that investing in the DRC in the manufacture of electric batteries The DRC is much more attractive and competitive in this sector."

Taking advantage of the forum of this forum that brought together representatives of African countries, entrepreneurs and technical and financial partners from other continents, the Minister of Industry called on the countries of the black continent to pool together to transform the economies of imports into economies of local processing of natural resources.

"We presented in the Council of Ministers the establishment of a Congolese battery council, it will be the governance structure of all these Energy Transition issues, it only remains for the President of the Republic to appoint the animators of this council which will have a technical committee that will be composed of experts from all sides who know the matter well so that we ensure that the governance of this value chain of electric Batterie Between Zambia and us, we are already on the right track and we invite other African countries that are producers of these elements that I mentioned to effectively install this large regional value chain that will capture world markets," he wished.

For Julien Paluku, speaker at this forum, the lack of infrastructure and energy in this country is opportunities that investors should seize.

"We cannot actually increase the processing of our minerals if there is no such infrastructure, if there is no energy. I have always said that Africa's problems are not problems. These are opportunities to seize," said Julien Paluku.

And to add:

"This forum offered an opportunity "to mobilize all the technical and financial partners, the great bankers who are present and who may have means but do not know where to channel them, we tell them, countries like the DRC with its 2,35,000 km2, with its 26 provinces, with its difficulties of interconnecting all provinces, these are not problems but opportunities to seize."

It should be noted that André Flahaut, Minister of State, Honorary President of the House of Representatives of Belgium, major partner of this forum and Thierry Hot, President of Rebranding Africa Forum insisted on the consolidation of intra-African trade with the development of value chains.
Clément MUAMBA

 

[Sammy_da_Smile]

How’s that afr article!
Zijin Mining confidently looks forward to the ICC hearing in April 2023 and expects AVZ’s abuse of Zijin Mining’s 15 per cent stake in the Manono project as alleged will be addressed,” Zijin’s in-house legal counsel Sun Kuiyuan said on Thursday. “Zijin Mining is disappointed with AVZ’s lack of cooperation with the minority shareholders of the Manono project.

Why the fuck don’t management comment and push back on this! Sorry but this is a fucking joke. These proceedings have been in the works longer than we have known. Nigel has to open his mouth for something other than sucking down his fucking pay cheque and free shares

It's a joke that an Australian News company are pushing their agenda

 

[Doc]

How’s that afr article!
Zijin Mining confidently looks forward to the ICC hearing in April 2023 and expects AVZ’s abuse of Zijin Mining’s 15 per cent stake in the Manono project as alleged will be addressed,” Zijin’s in-house legal counsel Sun Kuiyuan said on Thursday. “Zijin Mining is disappointed with AVZ’s lack of cooperation with the minority shareholders of the Manono project.

Why the fuck don’t management comment and push back on this! Sorry but this is a fucking joke. These proceedings have been in the works longer than we have known. Nigel has to open his mouth for something other than sucking down his fucking pay cheque and free shares

Wow Tommy just wow.
Not one reference that Zijin may not be entitled to the 15% due to the fact that alleged transaction may have breached AVZ ROFR.

It’s personal now for Tommy I’m guessing

 

[Doc]

Suspended lithium play AVZ Minerals has conceded a Congo court ordered its payments to acquire an additional 15 per cent stake in the Manono Project be suspended, after it was questioned about the September 20 court ruling by The Australian Financial Review.
The ruling suggests AVZ and Congo’s Dathomir face more arbitration over the deal’s validity and sale price, while extending a list of disputes AVZ faces over its ownership rights to the Manono hard rock lithium deposit in the Congo.

AVZ Minerals CEO Nigel Ferguson is disputing claims that a Chinese company owns 15 per cent of AVZ’s lithium project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. David Rowe
On Thursday last week, AVZ told the market only a properly constituted arbitration tribunal has jurisdiction to overturn an acquisition it says it executed with Dathomir in August 2021 for $US21 million.
The Perth-headquartered explorer rode the lithium boom and excitement over claims Manono is the world’s largest lithium deposit to reach a $2.7 billion sharemarket valuation last May, before shares were suspended over its mining licence’s approval by the Congo government.
Despite the ruling suspending AVZ’s payments for the 15 per cent stake, AVZ said it still had legal title to 75 per cent ownership of Manono.
In September 2021, AVZ announced a separate agreement with Chinese investor Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies to sell a 24 per cent equity interest in Manono for $US240 million, which by proxy valued the project at $US1 billion.
This compares to the $US21 million AVZ said it paid Dathomir for a 15 per cent stake just a month before in August 2021 in a transaction the Congolese mining group has now had a court rule as suspended.
On May 10, AVZ told investors its future Manono stake would fall from 75 per cent to 51 per cent after the deal to sell a 24 per cent stake to CATH completed, with the right to negotiate to buy another 15 per cent from Congo government’s Cominiere potentially taking its stake back to a final 66 per cent.
However, in May 2022 another Chinese mining group named Zijin Mining announced it had signed a separate legal deal with the Congo government’s Cominiere to acquire a 15 per cent stake in the Manono Project for $US33.4 million.
Fortune-500 company Zijin said the deal was struck in September 2021 and the Commercial Court of Lubumbashi rejected AVZ’s attempt to have the deal thrown out in November 2021 and January 2022.
AVZ didn’t disclose the Zijin legal dispute or court rulings to the market until May 4, 2022, as shares raced to $1.30 in April 2022 on a $4.5 billion valuation. Its stock was suspended on May 9.
In May, Zijin also applied to the International Court of Arbitration (ICC) to force AVZ to recognise its claim to 15 per cent in the Manono project.
“Zijin Mining confidently looks forward to the ICC hearing in April 2023 and expects AVZ’s abuse of Zijin Mining’s 15 per cent stake in the Manono project as alleged will be addressed,” Zijin’s in-house legal counsel Sun Kuiyuan said on Thursday. “Zijin Mining is disappointed with AVZ’s lack of cooperation with the minority shareholders of the Manono project.
“Zijin is surprised that AVZ has not supported its participation in the Manono project, which brings substantial capital and expertise to the benefit of all stakeholders and the DRC.”

Zijin refused to comment further. It previously said the separate sale between Dathomir and AVZ had been legally terminated to mean AVZ only had legal ownership of 60 per cent of the project, with Zijin at 15 per cent, Dathomir at 15 per cent, and the Congo government under Cominiere at 10 per cent.
It also said if AVZ proceeded with the 24 per cent sale to CATH Technologies its stake would drop from 60 per cent to 36 per cent to mean AVZ “will no longer have an absolute controlling interest” in Manono.
AVZ refused to comment on questions around the September 20 court ruling and a separate December 2021 court document related to the Dathomir deal.
Company secretary Ben Cohen said AVZ would only respond further with its lawyers present due to unspecified allegations on social media that Financial Review reporter Tom Richardson is connected with a short selling group named Boatman Capital, which chose to publish mistruths.
London-based short side research firm Boatman Capital has followed Zijin in claiming AVZ’s stake will fall from 60 per cent to 36 per cent if the deal to sell to CATH goes ahead, which theoretically means AVZ would own less of the project than Chinese interests.
On September 9, AVZ issued a statement attacking Boatman for publishing alleged mistruths around the Congo courtroom barneys and reiterated its position that it still owns 75 per cent of Manono.
In response, Boatman instructed lawyers Grosvenor Law to demand both the ASX and ASIC investigate AVZ for allegedly misleading the market and failing to follow its disclosure obligations.
Boatman has also submitted court documents and made unreported allegations to Australia’s regulators it said supported its statements.
Tom Richardson writes and comments on markets including tech, crypto, software, small caps, banking, payments, and regulation. He worked in asset management at Bank of New York Mellon and is a member of the CFA Society of the UK as an IMC graduate. Connect with Tom on Twitter. Email Tom at tom.richardson@afr.com