Civil society groups and a member of Parliament in Congo are raising concerns that state-owned gold company SOKIMO failed to follow an open and transparent bidding process before agreeing to sell its stakes in six gold assets, including 10% of Congo’s biggest gold mine, Kibali, to Canada’s AJN Resources.
The criticism follows action by Barrick Gold to block the proposed sale to AJN, after AJN on February 6 said it had reached a memorandum of understanding with Sokimo. Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti each own 45% of Kibali, and Sokimo may not sell or transfer its Kibali stake without their approval.