News

November 24, 2008

Douglas Lake Moves To The Assay Stage At The Multi-Million Ounce Mwembkuru Project, But The Chinese Hold The Whip Hand On Funding

By Alastair Ford

The last time we wrote about Douglas Lake it generated a fairly spirited response from a certain section of our readership. The “spirit” in the response was generated by the size and potential of the company’s Mbwemkuru gold property down in Tanzania, which really is quite stunning. And also because some shareholders aren’t, or at least weren’t, too happy with the way bosses Harp Sangha and Byron Hampton were running and promoting the company.

The problem in a nutshell is that Mbwemkuru is an alluvial, or placer, gold deposit, somewhat similar in style to the fabulously wealthy Witwatersrand deposits, one of the two twin pillars on which modern South Africa’s immense mining wealth now stands. Mbwemkuru may not be as big as the Wits, but it is big nonetheless. The question is how big? Placer deposits, with their variable grades and huge size, are also a notorious home for scamsters and rampers, and some in the market have accused Harp...