More Trouble At Anvil's African Mine

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday April 27, 2006

Jamie Freed

THE Democratic Republic of Congo has again proved a tricky operating environment for Anvil Mining, a company perhaps best known in Australia as the subject of a highly critical report on the ABC's Four Corners last year.

An Anvil employee and a contract security guard were killed on Monday afternoon when a group of fringe miners burned down one of the company's guest houses. Both were Congolese nationals.

Anvil's chief executive, Bill Turner, said the company was still investigating the incident in co-operation with local authorities.

"There are a lot [illegal] miners all around the country," he said.

"As companies come in and start modern mining developments, these people need to move off to other projects.

"There are problems sometimes when you try to do that.

"We have offered jobs to some of them. We can't employ them all right at the beginning."

The deaths occurred at Anvil's Kulu copper and cobalt mine near the town of Kolwezi.

The company has temporarily shut the mine and has sent two of the mine's eight resident expatriates - both women - to a provincial capital 250 kilometres away for safety reasons.

In contrast, the Four Corners report concerned a massacre near Anvil's Dikilushi copper and silver mine.

In late 2004, Congolese soldiers used Anvil's trucks and aircraft to travel to the nearby town of Kilwa, where more than 100 villagers were killed.

Anvil, which has received support from the World Bank for its project, has also notified the United Nations office and non-governmental organisations of the latest incident.

"We report to a broader spectrum of people now," said Mr Turner, referring to new practices established after the Kilwa incident.

Anvil is not the only company to have difficulties in the republic, which geopolitical risk experts consider one of the world's toughest operating environments.

Moto Goldmines is involved in a dispute with a state-owned mining company over ownership of the Moto gold project.

Shares in Anvil fell 5c to 97c yesterday.

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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