One thing I'm not understanding is the relationship between the details of this announcement and Felix' need to engage the US for protection and support against the rebels. He was evidently pleading to engage with the US for the purposes of signing the peace agreement which as we know has to have something in it for the US (i.e. the critical minerals aspect) - otherwise what is the point of the deal from the US perspective...
Once the deal is signed, I find it difficult to imagine that reneging or deviation from the US's strategy (which the DRC must have been agreed with to even make it to the point of signing) would be allowed to let slip by the US without consequence. There's still the chance that as mentioned above, the DRC are still engaging but with Kobold instead of AVZ.
On the other hand, the DRC government have proven themselves to be fools without logic or reason so maybe they plainly do not give a crap about US consequences.
I'm back from my swim , in Bali and before you guys say it, its a cheap flight Java and the youngest want to learn surfing , but all I could think of while sitting in a bean bag and being asked to buy everything on earth was Babi Guling , spit roast those pigs
plenty of ayam lalat early morning , I got propositioned by a banchong at 6am all I wanted was coffee blackWere there any ayam selling their wares ?
I call them the village chickens....Were there any ayam selling their wares ?
Just trying to ease the tension of today
ayam kampung , I ran one over years ago cost me $5 and the owner took it , it was my dinnerI call them the village chickens....
You could speculate if AVZ had gone bust at the end of last year would Kobold now have Roche Dure ? AVZ handed Kobold a sh1t sandwich today . If the DRC are against AVZ then Kobold is out .
Some thoughtful posts mate.In the midst of banging my head repeatedly on the table this afternoon, one thought cut through the distraction....is it in the interest of the US/Kobold for positive reports of reconciliation/productive engagement between AVZ and DRC officials at this point in proceedings?
Optics are obviously important on any number of levels to the US in what they are trying to achieve here, as they want a significant win to parade on the world stage....even more so with events of recent weeks. They want to be seen as heroes.
If they can negotiate for a workable peace treaty in the longstanding conflict between two major African nations, bring multiple billions of needed Western investment, along with the subsequent improvements in living conditions to the long suffering populations, while also enormously benefiting the all important US economy and workforce with access to the plethora of vital 21st Century minerals the DRC is blessed with, AND combat China's attempts at a stranglehold on the sector in the process, then it's no small victory to the good ol boys.
Whilst there are potentially trillions of dollars of needed minerals in the ground in the DRC, there is only one proven up, homogenous, ready to go, lithium deposit of such size that it can dictate market dynamics for potentially decades to come, and you can be damn sure they won't want that to slip away as part of these negotiations. Kobold is a proxy for the US Department of State in this imo and as such will play hardball to get what they want as part of the overall peace/security and mineral deals.
They want the DRC to stop fucking us around so they can get their hands on our lithium rights, but the timing has had to be right for all these other important bricks to fall into place (how long have they been pulling the strings quietly in the background to get to this point is probably a valid thought) and it's important for them to appear to be the saviours in all this....to relieve the DRC of these pesky, honest, hardworking Aussies who will call a spade a fucking spade, and have become a real pain in the collective DRC arse, while giving us a shortcut to a fair and appropriate compensation for being ousted from the potential lithium resource of the century, rather than having to drag it through the international courts. If we suddenly smoothed things over with big Felix and his band of merry men before the ink has dried on the other agreements, as opposed to them patting us on the back and telling us they got this, once the treaties go through, then it may take some of their shine away.
All this while publically wearing their star spangled capes for the world to see. A true win-win-win if handled appropriately.....which is great, but if it's worth having then it's worth them paying appropriately for and we all know the starting figures for that portion of negotiations involve the ICSID claim amount.
Maybe I banged my head a few too many times...
If true I wonder how this affects the Rwanda / DRC treaty?
It mentions kagame is gravely ill
Gotta disagree.One thing I'm not understanding is the relationship between the details of this announcement and Felix' need to engage the US for protection and support against the rebels. He was evidently pleading to engage with the US for the purposes of signing the peace agreement which as we know has to have something in it for the US (i.e. the critical minerals aspect) - otherwise what is the point of the deal from the US perspective...
Once the deal is signed, I find it difficult to imagine that reneging or deviation from the US's strategy (which the DRC must have been agreed with to even make it to the point of signing) would be allowed to let slip by the US without consequence. There's still the chance that as mentioned above, the DRC are still engaging but with Kobold instead of AVZ.
On the other hand, the DRC government have proven themselves to be fools without logic or reason so maybe they plainly do not give a crap about US consequences.
Cheers Azzler, I sometimes post as Klaxon on HC but I'm not a big contributor online and any thoughts are just personal ramblings (and have a case history of being very wrong, as my wallet can attest to!).Some thoughtful posts mate.
Just wondering if you post on HC or X under another name if you wish to share?