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Gold/Mining/Energy : SOUTHERNERA (t.SUF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Goalie who wrote (1804)	7/23/1998 5:12:00 PM
From: Goalie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7235

23 Jul "S.Africa Gives Go Ahead To De Beers Joint Venture" By Darren Schuettler JOHANNESBURG, July 23 (Reuters) - Canada's SouthernEra Resources Ltd (SUF.TO) said on Thursday that the South African government has approved its diamond mining joint venture with global giant De Beers (DBRS.J). The ruling comes a month after the tiny Toronto-based exploration company and De Beers ended a bitter dispute over the diamond-rich Marsfontein farm and settled for a 60-40 joint venture in De Beers' favour. "We're very happy today. Our plans are to start producing as soon as we can," SouthernEra president and chairman Chris Jennings told Reuters in as telephone interview. Contract mining at the site about 300 km north of Johannesburg will begin in about two weeks, Jennings said. They hope to ramp up production as quickly as possible to 50,000 tonnes throughput per month, he added. The battle over the Marsfontein site, part of SouthernEra's lucrative Klipspringer project, began in January when heirs to the farm obtained an injunction preventing the South African government from transferring the mineral rights to SouthernEra and its South African partner, Randgold (RNGJn.J). The injunction was based on a claim by 29 people who said they were the descendants of the former owners of the land. SouthernEra said it it checked back several generations and could find no evidence of mineral rights being passed on to heirs. It launched a court bid to secure the mineral rights. De Beers entered the fray in April when the heirs, through a company NGS Minerals, agreed to a prospecting contract with De Beers. The dispute weighed on SouthernEra's stock price and threatened to drag out in South Africa's courts. The South African government, reluctant to expropriate the land, urged SouthernEra to find a compromise. In mid-June, SouthernEra, de Beers and their respective partners agreed to a deal giving De Beers 60 percent and management of the Marsfontein project. The joint venture was criticised by some SouthernEra shareholders and raised questions about the security of foreign-held mining prospects in South Africa. "I don't think anyone knows the true nature of the negotiations. Some people thought we should have had a larger share or had it all," Jennings said. But he said 40 percent stake would still deliver strong cash flow for the company. SouthernEra will finalise a deal soon to buy Randgold's 35 percent holding in their partnership, Jennings said. SouthernEra's stock climbed C80 cents to C$6.45 on the Toronto Stock exchange after the announcement, but well off its high of C$20.80 in September last year. De Beers, through its Central Selling Organisation (CSO) marketing arm, controls 70 per cent of the world's uncut diamond sales. Aside from its own mines, De Beers has partnerships with diamond producing countries such as Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania. The Marsfontein battle has prompted a closer look at South Africa's antiquated minerals policy. Ownership of mineral rights is a core issue in the mining industry and South Africa is one of the few countries in the world that has a system of dual state and private ownership. The government has said the dual system is unacceptable because private ownership limited access to mineral rights, curbed foreign investment and contained an element of racism. It has proposed new laws that would prevent the "hoarding and sterilisation" of mineral rights by implementing a "use it or lose it" principle. SouthernEra has said revamped legislation would have prevented the Marsfontein dispute. (Johannesburg newsroom, 27 11 482 1003, newsroom@reuters.co.za) Thursday, 23 July 1998 13:40:05 RTRS [nJB59325] ___________________________

To: Goalie who wrote (1804)	7/23/1998 11:27:00 PM
From: VAUGHN	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7235

Hello Goalie *OFF TOPIC* If you are using a single action reel with anything less than a ten-ft rod on Northerns you should be happy to get one in six over the transom. When it comes to salmon fishing I am no sportsman. I have forgotten the name of them, but I only use those razor sharp Japanese single hooks on a twelve or fourteen ft medium action rod and a star drag Penn reel with 30lb test min. I go out for camaraderie but when it comes down to the short strokes, fish is what it's all about and I will not accept looking at tail fins. Found myself looking at a map this afternoon in another transplant's office, and staring at the stretch from Pedder to Pt. No Pt.. There is a word for that.... Unless this play or DML comes through, I am stuck up here for at least another decade and probably two if I want the kids in U before I pack it in. You had better have left a few in the chuck for me. Thanks for the invite and intend to take you up on it some day. Same offer holds up here for you, if I can ever afford to put the Predator back in the water and pay for day care in the same year? Regards