On the international front, Bolivia has made mining firms appropriately fearful with its plans to “exert greater state control over all its natural resources.” Their VP has excluded mining in this broad pronouncement, yet you can practically see the companies readying themselves to flee to friendlier shores
Mines and Communities has its own view on the possibility of Bolivia nationalizing its mining industry, but the most telling quotes come from the miners themselves when asked what country could be more “hospitable” to mining.
This uncertainty prompted the founder of one of the world’s largest gold producers to say he now sees Pakistan as a better place invest in, despite the presence of Islamic militants in the South Asian nation.
“Pakistan … from a mining point of view, from a business point of view, is among the better countries,” Peter Munk, chairman of Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp., told shareholders at the Canadian company’s annual meeting last week.
…
Although the company’s assessment of opportunities in that country is still in the early days, Wilkins said Barrick would be “very interested” in more projects there, despite challenges posed by the presence of al-Qaida in some of its regions.
In short, the mining world believes that squaring off against the world’s most infamous terrorist organization is preferable to a drop in profits.
And these are the people the government is staking the country’s economic future on.
