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 realize 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 realized 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 Millennium 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 realized 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 amend their disposition vis-à-vis Senegal. There, it is the government you are dealing with as you must have realized. 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 labor 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 labor 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.