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Botswana proposes law for residents to acquire 24% stakes in mines

Botswana is proposing a. law that will ask mining companies, as soon as gave a licence, to. offer a 24% stake in mines to residents if the government does not. workout its option to obtain the shareholding, a draft bill. seen on Tuesday programs.

The present Mines and Minerals Act allows the government of. Botswana, the world's leading diamond producer by value and an. emerging copper mining hotspot, to buy a 15% shareholding in any. mining task upon being licensed. The existing law offers the. government an alternative to negotiate greater stakes in diamond. mines.

The government has, nevertheless, inevitable that alternative in all. current mining transactions, consisting of Lucara's. acquisition of Karowe Diamond Mine, the purchase of Khoemacau. copper mine by China's MMG and the just recently opened Motheo Copper. mine owned by Australia's Sandfire.

Where federal government does not exercise its option of obtaining. a 15% working interest upon approving of a mining licence, the. holder will use his finest endeavour to get rid of the 24% stake to. citizens or citizen-owned business, reads the Mines and. Minerals Amendment Expense due to be tabled in parliament by mines. minister Lefoko Moagi.

Moagi has formerly said the government was proposing that. funding for Batswana to obtain the stakes might be sourced from. the nation's pension funds.

The pension funds have just recently been asked, through a modification. in law, to lower the amount of funds invested offshore from 65%. to 50% over the next 3 years.

The government, through the state-owned Minerals Development. Company Botswana, has equity stakes in Debswana Diamond Company.

(source: Reuters)