Namibian mining companies owned by Branch Energy, of which Sandline International Chairman Anthony Buckingham is Chief Executive, are seeking to evict small-scale miners from the Neu Schwaben tourmaline deposit near Karibib, west of Windhoek; this is, according to the miners, despite an agreement two years ago to allow them unrestricted access (AC Vol 39 No 11). Branch Energy's associations with South African mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes was one reason why Windhoek's Ministry of Mines was unethusiastic about a 1996 application for exploration funding for the mine under Namibia’s Sysmin facility from the European Union, in spite of an appeal to senior members of the Namibian government.
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