Thank you Victoria for your article in the comments and analysis section of  
City A.M. It is interesting that the squalor of Gambian prisons is only now  
becoming a concern to the citizens of UK and the investment world. I have 
always  held the belief and value that it is only a matter of time when injustice 
in  Tananarive will unduly affect justice in Wales. It will have been 
instructive  for Carnegie to take spectacular delinquencies into account and insist on  
amelioration of squalor prior to worsening it by aiding and abetting such.
 
We the Gambian citizens, and indeed some other African citizens have always  
been aware of the decrepitude and delinquencies in Gambia and we have before 
now  yelled as loud as we could to warn of the corrosive character of  
indifference and general malaise. Be that as it may, I wish to share some ideas  with 
Mr. Hopkins that may in my view, bring more perspective to Carnegie's  
diminished fortunes. 

[A tale of uranium smuggling claims and squalid African prison cells]  
Victoria Bates.
 
I refer Mr. Hopkins to a speech made by Yahya Jammeh, possibly in Hopkins'  
presence, where Yahya boasted about the discovery of commercially viable  
minerals. Yahya had intimated to the gathering that Gambia will therefore be a  
superpower. Now you don't get to be a superpower whatever that means by the mere  
presence and of Rutile, Zirconium, and Ilmenite. What Yahya was alluding to 
was  Uranium even though Yahya does not understand fission and fusion theory. 
Yahya  went further to advise that he did not make the discovery public prior 
because  he had wished to upgrade national security commensurate with a nation 
with  Uranium deposits. It was funny and incredible to me then, and it still 
is  to me today. I was terribly disappointed however to realise that Mr. 
Hopkins and  Carnegie did not take that to be aberrant commentary especially given 
that they  have not discovered uranium in any appreciable quantity or quality. 
Never mind  precedence in Alimenta V. Gambia. Yahya also went on to invoke 
colonial  exploitation referring to Titans earlier operations and the distasteful 
commerce  in slaves. I can only deduce that Carnegie and Mr. Hopkins were 
only interested  in the mechanics of extraction and shareholder dividends. And 
not the people. So  please forgive me if I do not do cartwheels over this title 
and Carnegie's  newfound philanthropy.
 
[But this isn't a Graham Greene novel, it's real life.] Victoria  Bates.
 
In Gambia, the surreal is real.
 
[Alan Hopkins, boss of miner Carnegie talks to Victoria Bates:
THE  managing director of mining firm Carnegie Minerals, Alan Hopkins, has 
had a  challenging week. However, his worries have been nothing compared to the 
ordeal  his manager in the Gambia, Charlie Northfield, has endured. Northfield 
was  arrested on 15 February and only released from a squalid prison on 
Friday  afternoon after being bailed for $450,000 (£225,000).] Victoria Bates.
 
We are relieved and pleased that Charlie Northfield is now free. It would  
have been more pleasing if he were released sooner and sans bail. I would not  
count on a speedy trial any time soon.
 
"The 47-year-old father of three from Plymouth had spent a week in shocking  
conditions, sharing a cell with seven inmates but without power or hope of  
getting in telephone contact with his family.] Victoria Bates.
 
The seven inmates still endure the squalor that entities like Carnegie aid  
and abet.
 
[Northfield, his Australia-based employer Carnegie and partner firm Astron  
are accused of illegal mining and of smuggling material, including uranium, out 
 of the country. Hopkins says: “All we can say from our side is that the  
allegations are completely unfounded — it’s all an incredible  misunderstanding.“
] 
 
Incredible and incredulous. To us, the citizens of Gambia, the argument  over 
mineral smuggling and its veracity is not terribly significant amid murder,  
maiming, and general decrepitude. Especially when partners thereto squabble 
over  insignificant farthing.
 
[We were just desperate to get our guy out. Charlie was in a really  
vulnerable position. He’s in mobile contact with us now and is just glad to be  out. 
It wasn’t something he’d wish on anyone.”] Hopkins.
 
We share your relief that Charlie is now free and hopefully free to rejoin  
his lovely family in the UK.
 
[IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL
The saga began a month ago, when the Gambian  government told Carnegie to 
cease operations and Carnegie withdrew its personnel  from the country.] Victoria.
 
I think the cessation was ordered by Yahya Jammeh through a personal  
representative. I can assure you it was not court order emanating from the  judiciary 
as should have been the case under normal arrangement. Here, we renew  our 
request for a copy of the MINING LICENSE. Not the exploration lease.
 
[Then two of the Gambia’s top officials visited Britain on 4 February and  
the company was assured that the Gambia wanted operations to be  restarted.] 
 
The two "Top" government officials presumably are the Attorney General  and 
the secretary of state for foreign affairs. Peculiar. And Carnegie was so  
eager to resume purely extractive operations, ides of Alimenta V. Gambia were a  
distant consideration. Fall-Guy; Charlie Northfield.
 
[It was told the safety of its employees was not at risk.]
 
Indeed. And Alimenta was not given similar assurances when Yahya realised  
persons in detention are more valuable than real asset in extortions. Incredible 
 Carnegie. I am informed that Carnegie has a comprehensive analysis operation 
 which valuates her investments regularly.
 
[Northfield returned to start planning the restarting of operations. He was  
arrested shortly afterwards. Given the circumstances, it’s hard to ignore the  
possible implications for foreign investment in the Gambia. After the “
groundnut  incident” of 1999 — when the Gambian government was forced to pay Swiss 
company  Alimenta $11.4m (£6m) after seizing the firm’s processing plants as a 
result of  allegations that it had been involved in money laundering — firms 
are reluctant  to move operations there and Carnegie’s recent problems won’t 
exactly boost the  country’s reputation.] Hopkins.
 
I see Alimenta V. Gambia is only now valuable. In historic hindsight. I am  
so terribly disappointed at Carnegie I'm on the brink being insolent. But I 
will  yield for sobriety.
 
[NEW RESERVES
“It’s hard to speculate on the longer-term implications  for the Gambia, but 
if you have an agreement with a government then both sides  have to actually 
follow that agreement.] Hopkins.
 
IF YOU HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH A GOVERNMENT. All indications are that  Hopkins 
and Carnegie were dealing with Yahya Jammeh and that they wished it to  
remain so. We renew our request for the mining license which should be in  the 
public domain all along. If I were Yahya, I would have afforded myself  the 
services of a TNC. But because the License/Agreement was between Carnegie  and 
Yahya, that was not a valuable consideration. The Department of Physical  Planning, 
Geology, and Environment were only surrogates. Their activity must not  be 
seen as participating government entities. I am sure that could easily be  
established in any court of law. The era of the Millenium pre-supposes that  
thievery, enslavement, and deceit will be extremely difficult to conceal.
 
[If you don’t do that, there’s no firm base to operate on,” says  Hopkins.]
 
A GOVERNMENT nonetheless. If you convince yourself that you are dealing  with 
a government, it is easy to overlook stark decrepitude I  suppose.
 
[Financially speaking, the loss of Carnegie’s Gambian project won’t have a  
great impact on the company, as the joint venture was funded primarily by  
Australia-listed Astron. However, says Hopkins, the fiasco will be a setback for  
the development of the regional mining project he has planned for the African 
 west coast. company has been drilling and has found new reserves and Hopkins 
 wants eventually to turn the project into something much bigger. “Our 
project in  the Gambia was a stepping- stone,” he says. “There were deposits there 
which had  been known about for 50 years but they were small and not such good 
quality.] 
 
The impression that the Gambia deposits were very small and not of such  good 
quality is at variance with the impression Carnegie communicated to Yahya  
and Carnegie and Astron's shareholders. In fact, there was jubilation about  the 
quality of the deposits and its proximity to the more expansive Senegalese  
deposits for value in economies of scale.
 
[We’d been in the country for a few years when we looked across and  realised 
that what’s in the Gambia should also be over the border in Senegal.  So, we 
entered into an agreement with the government and the project’s still  going 
strong. Senegal is a much bigger country, so our targets are potentially  on a 
much larger scale.”] Hopkins.
 
I hope Carnegie/Astron learns from the Gambian experience and ammend their  
disposition vis-a-vis Senegal. There, it is the government you are dealing with 
 as you must have realised. You must be up-front with value-yield and insist 
on  propriety or else you close shop. In this era of international commerce,  
propriety and good governance are the most important bases for investment. Who 
 am I to advise Carnegie/Astron? A Gambian citizen.
 
[Hopkins, who’s been in the mining industry for almost 30 years, is  
confident that the resources sector will prove resilient, despite current  turmoil.] 
Victoria Bates.
 
The resiliency of the resources sector is directly proportional to  
investment security.
 
[POSITIVE AMBASSADORS
“We’re certainly seeing a lot of demand from  buyers in the big developing 
countries like India and China,” he says. “In  relation to the stock markets, 
they’ve obviously fallen everywhere.”  
Carnegie is, as Hopkins puts it, a “production story”. While many of its  
competitors are simply exploring, the company has moved into production but  
needs a higher profile. “The problem is, we’re below the radar,” he says. “Our  
target is now to step up onto a larger scale in various countries. London’s a 
 big market and you’ve got to be a certain size to get a full evaluation of 
where  you are.”] Victoria Bates.
 
I presume this was a speech for the shareholders of Mr. Hopkins.
 
[He’s hoping that the company will be driven forward by its new  
undertakings, including the project in Senegal and another venture which  Carnegie has 
been working on for five months but whose location is being kept  under wraps. “We
’re not far away on it,” he says. “We can’t say yet where it  is.”] 
 
WE CANT SAY YET WHERE IT IS. I suppose the competitive nature of the mining  
industry precludes corporate citizenry. I hope the citizens of that nation are 
 informed and regularly.
 
[Short-term, Hopkins’s top priority is throwing out the “ludicrous” Gambian  
charges against the company and Charlie Northfield, but Carnegie’s ordeal 
there  does not seem to have put him off expanding into other countries. “] 
 
Hopkins still doesn't get it does he? I think he means the ludicrous  charges 
of Yahya Jammeh.
 
[Somebody asked me this morning whether I regretted going to the Gambia,”  he 
says.
“But it’s funny — although we obviously have a lot of concerns about  what’
s happened, we achieved a lot there.]
 
OK.
 
[We created about 140 local jobs and fully trained up our workers.]  Hopkins.
 
Someone had to mine the beach sand. It will have been uneconomic to import  
miners from Britain, China, or Australia for such mundane activity. And they  
must be trained to do their job. This is not philanthropy considering the 140  
persons are a captive labour pool with very little or no alternative for  
survival.
 
[They didn’t even have shoes,] Hopkins.
 
I am confident if they could have produced more volume without shoes,  
Carnegie will be more than happy have them mine barefoot.
 
[and we gave them protective work gear.] Hopkins.
 
I am pleased Carnegie complies with some labour standards for the safety of  
their productive inputs.
 
[We gave them inoculations for their health.] Hopkins.
 
Indeed. Slaves were fed while en-route in ships. Some however went on  hunger 
strike for conscience sakes.
 
[“And if the local primary school needed a building, we’d send our men up  
for the day and work on it for them for nothing. We even sponsored the local  
footie team. We really were positive ambassadors, and I’m proud of that.” By  
Victoria Bates]
 
If I were Hopkins, I will cease with this cockamayme story about good  
corporate citizen and positive ambassadors. Those qualifiers are for the  citizens 
to determine. Not Carnegie and Astron to advertise. It just rings  hollow for 
some reason. I take this opportunity to renew our request for  the mining 
license. 


This is Haruna. I just hope someone will tell the truth for once without  
regard of consequences or perceptions thereof. I am very disappointed. Citizen  
goodwill is slowly being eroded.




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