News

July 24, 2008

International Barytex Is Almost Ready To Start Development At Shituru, So Long As The Congolese Government Lets It

By Alastair Ford

Alf Hills came in to visit Minesite a couple of weeks ago. With a 26 year stint at Placer under his belt, Alf’s a seasoned mining man, and knows a thing or two about operating in some fairly unusual spots. He needs to, since his latest company, International Barytex, is firmly ensconced on the Congolese side of the Copperbelt and is currently negotiating its way through the tortuous highways and by-ways of that country’s mining contract review.

And unlike some of his larger peers, Alf doesn’t have a big sugar daddy dishing out brown envelopes to the bureaucrats and bosses in Kinshasa, to back him up. He’s got to work through the system on his own. That has its advantages, though. International Barytex isn’t really big enough to attract the attention of any of Congo’s major players, like Dan Gertler or George Forrest. It’s not so long ago that Mr Gertler fought off CAMEC’s attempt to become a big Congolese player, and sent Phil Edmonds...