"Some smaller Australian-based companies have had very positive experiences in the DRC.
The most prominent of those companies would arguably be Moto Goldmines, which started 2005 with an in-ground resource of 4.9 million gold ounces and at year's end had a resource of 10.9Moz.
What's most impressive is the geology of the region in which the company's namesake project is situated, from which Moto is converting resources to reserves at a rate of more than 96%.
Moto president and chief executive Klaus Eckhof significantly discounted the importance of political risk in the December-January edition of RESOURCESTOCKS.
"The biggest risk for an exploration company is always the geological risk and that is zero where we are," he said at that time.
"If you work in Australia, the geological risk is 80% and the political risk might be only 20%. But you can't manage geological risk, whereas you can manage political risk."
Eckhof said the risks associated with the DRC these days were exaggerated, citing the company's drilling record of 120,000m in 20 months as evidence.
He attributed the company's lack of local disturbances partly to the distance from known areas of heavy militia and also to the camp's friendly appearance when compared to the razor wire and armed guards at many African operations.
Another important factor in managing political risk for Moto was a board overhaul in August 2005 when it appointed two particularly influential directors in Sir Sam Jonah and Walter Kansteiner.
Both men carry much weight as high profile African figures, with Jonah recently accepting an invitation from Kofi Annan to speak at a United Nations forum, and Kansteiner recently serving two years as Assistant Secretary of the State for African Affairs and acting on behalf of US President George W. Bush at the G8 Africa Summit.
"It gives the market and any potential financier the confidence that we have the contacts in place, which is terribly important in a place like the DRC," Eckhof said.
MOE Price at posting:
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