Given the increasing country risks plus high govt take in west...

Given the increasing country risks plus high govt take in west Africa, I think Ravenswood should be retained, if the economics make any sense, which I presume they do or nobody would buy it.

The area is becoming more active with Islamic extremists killings, Burkina Faso now becoming a less desirable country to invest. Only the Ivory Coast seems like a good place for now, but who knows how long that will last. Mali also has its issues with terrorists and high govt total take from gold mining. In Ghana RSG will have a heap of corruption and high taxes to deal with, if it ever goes ahead re-opening Bibiani. As for JW's acquisitions in Egypt and Sudan, they are a sure fire way of doing a lot of dosh if they develop anything there - any agreements with their govts will not be worth the paper they are written on.

I hope the Moose does not have a brain fart and give Ravenswood away thinking he is just going to acquire top assets in Africa and get to keep the benefits in quick time. It would take 15-20 years to build another Randgold. It seems to me that Randgold management had come to the conclusion that they wanted to diversify away from Africa and therefore arranged for the merger with Barrick.

loki