s wife, and the $2.5bn mining deal , 30 July). This allows BSG Resources to secure space for its statements on an unfact-checked basis, which, particularly in highly contentious circumstances such as this, is simply inappropriate – and particularly inappropriate in the case of a company which responded to the Guardian's legitimate questions with threats of libel action. The fallout from BSGR...
s wife and the $2.5bn mining deal , 30 July). BSGR shares the Guardian's view that it is only through the successful development of its untapped mineral reserves that Guinea will be able to start lifting its citizens out of poverty. BSGR has made more progress against this aim than any other company. When we started exploration in Guinea in 2006, the international mining community had developed nothing....
s mining review committee says BSGR's permits would become void if corruption allegations are proven Guinea could cancel billions of dollars worth of mining permits belonging to the mining firm BSGR if it is found guilty of corruption in an ongoing investigation. The head of Guinea's mining review committee said that if allegations of corruption against the firm in both the west African country and...
s top lawyers, who have not been slow to fire off warnings of legal action against those looking into his business interests. Recently, however, there was an exception to Steinmetz's characteristic media shyness. On 30 June, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, carried a long and sympathetic interview-cum-profile in which Steinmetz rebutted allegations of corruption in relation to...
s company BSGR after lucrative deal to extract iron ore from Simandou mountain range In Conakry, a gleaming hotel looms over the filth of the city. Behind it a small coastal cove acts like a floating rubbish dump, collecting brightly coloured detritus from the murky Atlantic and distributing it in piles in stubbly black rock pools on the beach. A group of gangly young men sit by an abandoned fishing...
s past, present and possibly its future • Get the data With over a dozen languages and two dozen ethnicities, Guinea appears to be a country which might be characterised by deep divides. We look at seven of Guinea's key statistics to find out. 1958 In 1958, Guinea's joined the growing list of African countries from Cameroon to Côte d'Ivoire gaining independence from France. The country has continued...
s mining code lack teeth, campaigners warn There is a saying in Guinea that is popular among those who work in development: "Everything is a priority". It is a wry observation that, in a country in which almost nothing works, it is difficult to work out what to tackle first. The facts are stark. A recent survey showed that 62% of Guineans have no access to running water, 62% have no access to electricity,...
s agriculture minister, directed a plea to her colleague in charge of mining in the front row. "Please protect our red monkeys and our white toads," she said. It was a telling moment at the Invest in Guinea event at the Westbury hotel. Sultan had been outlining Guinea's farming potential and plans to make it an agricultural powerhouse by 2025. But the entreaty indicated the tension between the mining...
t be so. Guinea has vast mineral wealth , the world's largest reserves of bauxite and some of the highest grade iron ore deposits. Making these assets work for all our people rather than a few unscrupulous international mining companies and politicians means confronting the deeply ingrained corruption in our politics and business. But uprooting such corruption can be painfully slow, and is often dangerous....
illegally' in latest controversy over west African state's mineral resources Tony Blair is being asked to intervene in a west African state to secure the release of two mining company employees from prison, in the latest twist in a tussle over one of the world's richest mineral deposits. French human rights lawyer Rachel Lindon has written to the former British prime minister, who is adviser to Guinea's...