Hi marcos,
I'm not in this one for SL. I don't think the political situation there will get sorted out in the short term. When the guy coming to power may have cut off your fathers hands, raped your wife and daughter, cut off your brothers legs etc,etc, I find it hard to believe that Ruf will be welcomed back with open arms. The long knives haven't been sheathed yet. Angola holdings are rich enough to drive this companies share price sometime in the next 6 months to get some freebies and then let them run. If SL comes on line, the freebies should make quite a bit of money.
Angola is looking up. It was really bad in the area DMW had their mines at the end of last year. Roving bands of thugs (Unitas factions) were getting a bit brash and hitting sites they knew were weak, like the Yetwene sites or cars travelling on the roads between the towns and mine sites. Mostly they were stealing and harassing the old, the sick, the weak, unarmed and women and children. They are not suicidal like certain religious groups. The area is now secure, but expensive to mine in. Diamond miners can still make good money though. This info came from my discussions with SUF and DMW employees and directors in the last 5 months.
The government has supplied more army, the mining companies have hired "security guards" supplied by several enterprising Angolan companies (now this is a growth area in Angola). This area has become a heavily armed government stronghold now with good supply lines available by air. The government needs this income for the civil war, so they are protecting it well.
The Yetwene mine is about 15 km North from Camafuca, the pipe SUF is thinking of starting production on. It is thought the diamonds from Yetwene alluvials come from the Camafuca pipe and another nearby. The Luo mine never was shut down and it is 70 km south of Camafuca.
If you haven't already, get the annual report from Diamondworks. Just ask for it on their website,...it comes in about a week. They have a nice summary with pictures and diagrams of the sites.
http://www.diamondworks.com/s/InformationRequest.asp
One further point. The U.S. wants to keep the oil flowing from Angola west coast. I read somewhere 14% of U.S. imports now come from this country. This is an interesting article thinking of the above.
http://www.marekinc.com/NCNEditorchoiceStratfor.html
More Angolan oil news: The oil industry in Angola has been hailed as environmentally friendly.
Sonangol, the Angolan oil company, struck a deal with Texaco Inc.
Angola's war-crippled economy has been given some much-needed fillip.
http://www.marekinc.com/NCNBusNews072601.html
You have to scroll down a bit on this one to find the Angola section.
cheers, |
