I hope that FM is not the canary in the coal mineThe back and forth that is happening today with FM is something that we as IVN shareholders need to be mindful of.
Well the DRC has a 20% interest in KK and additional exposure through royalties and taxes, the fact is that they could easily take a page out of Panama's playbook. Having the Chinese as JV partners and shareholders is helpful. But rest assured, at some point the DRC will come looking for additional taxes or participation in KK etc.
The other thing to be mindful of is getting cash out of the DRC. It is not an issue today as much more investment has to go into Phase 2 and 3 and the smelter, but at some point there will be additional taxes to pay on repatriating cash out of the DRC. I suggest you look at Barrick's and Anglo's disclosure reparding the Moto mine in the DRC.
From Anglo disclosure in 2020:
“In the DRC we’ve been able to pay dividends regularly but we’ve had cash that’s been locked in the DRC that we can repatriate. In the DRC, Barrick, our partner, is the operator and they are leading the discussions in the engagement with the government. They’ve made good progress and our understanding from Barrick is that the mechanism is in place to repatriate the money."