International mining companies that oppose the new mining code in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are a lot closer to resolving their outstanding issues than they were a year-ago, but work remains to be done, according to the chief executive officer of Canadian miner Barrick.
Mark Bristow, who took over at Barrick after its $18.3 billion merger with Randgold Resources was completed at the start of this year, said that the collective conversation was continuing, and that it was focused on four or five key issues about which miners felt strongly."I'd say we have a few technicalities that we need to work out but, if I were to measure [the situation], I'd say we're at the 7.5 out of 10 stage. I certainly believe we're at a passable grade, but we've got a few things to get done," Bristow said during an on-stage interview with Fastmarkets at the 25th Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa."This is an evolving situation," he added. "The difference between DRC and other countries in Africa is that there's always an open dialogue. You can have a really energetic debate and you don't feel that your voice is not respected...