Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Adastra Minerals

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Withdrawn. (non-admin closure) Mhhossein ^talk 03:46, 14 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Adastra Minerals

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Fails WP:NCORP. Hasn't seemed to have any sources since the article was created in 2006 and nothing comes in a search except for trivial coverage of them being bought out by another company. Adamant1 (talk) 02:40, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Companies-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 02:57, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Africa-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 02:57, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of United Kingdom-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 02:57, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Weak keep ~~Delete or redirect to First Quantum Minerals~~ where the takeover is mention (and to which I have added a source). There are passing mentions of projects and people who had been associated with this company,but I am not seeing evidence that it attained notability in its own right. The coverage identified below by Cunard indicates something worth retaining regarding America Mineral Fields' involvement in Congo. The Canadian Business article indicates an interweaving history involving America Mineral Fields/Adastra and First Quantum Minerals, which might be better covered in a topic-based article rather than company-specific article, but an enhanced version of this article could be a start. AllyD (talk) 16:45, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Keep per the significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources.

Nabudere, Dani Wadada (2003). "Conflict over mineral wealth: Understanding the second invasion of the DRC". In Naidoo, Sagaren; le Pere, Garth; Lawson, Noelle (eds.). The War Economy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (PDF). Braamfontein: Institute for Global Dialogue. ISBN 1-919697-63-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Naidoo, Sagaren (2003). "Economic motivation for the DRC conflict by Sagaren Naidoo". The War Economy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (PDF). Braamfontein: Institute for Global Dialogue. ISBN 1-919697-63-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
McNish, Jacquie (1998). The Big Score. Toronto: Doubleday Canada. p. 330. ISBN 0-385-25758-9. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Renton, David; Seddon, David; Zeilig, Leo (2007). The Congo Plunder & Resistance. London: Zed Books. pp. 181–182, 186, 196, 209. ISBN 1-84277-484-0. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
"Mining in Congo: Kolwezi tailings". The Economist. 1998-01-15. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
McClearn, Matthew (2012-06-05). "How First Quantum settled with ENRC for compensation over Congolese mine". Canadian Business. Vol. 85, no. 10. ISSN 0008-3100. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Lokongo, Antoine (June 2001). "Congo: Business as Usual? (New African Market)". New African. No. 397. Retrieved 2020-04-10 – via Questia Online Library.
Morais, Richard C. (1998-08-09). "Friends in high places". Forbes. Vol. 162, no. 3. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Block, Robert (1997-04-14). "Mining Firms Want a Piece Of Zaire's Vast Mineral Wealth". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Bodipo-Memba, Alejandro; Block, Robert (1998-01-09). "America Mineral Fields Sues Anglo-American Over Contract". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
"Anglo American, American Mineral End Legal Battle, Plan Joint Venture". The Wall Street Journal. 1998-06-23. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
"The Politics of mining". Finweek. 2007-11-02. ISSN 1812-4658.
Ashurst, Mark (1998-02-06). "Congo seeks to boost investor confidence". Financial Times.
Simpkins, Edward, ed. (2005-05-08). "Market miscellany". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Simpkins, Edward, ed. (2006-01-22). "Market miscellany". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Wong, Craig (2004-06-04). "Adastra Minerals' Board Dismisses First Quantum's Offer". Modern Trader. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Matthews, Charlotte (2005-09-01). "Adastra gets jungle fever as Congo plans flower". Business Day. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Bain, Julie (2003-09-26). "Newly listed mine group eyes Africa". Business Day. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
Taylor, Ian (2003). "Conflict in Central Africa: Clandestine Networks & Regional/Global Configurations". Review of African Political Economy. 30 (95): 48. doi:10.1080/03056240308372. ISSN 0305-6244. Retrieved 2020-04-10.

Sources with quotes

Nabudere, Dani Wadada (2003). "Conflict over mineral wealth: Understanding the second invasion of the DRC". In Naidoo, Sagaren; le Pere, Garth; Lawson, Noelle (eds.). The War Economy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (PDF). Braamfontein: Institute for Global Dialogue. ISBN 1-919697-63-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The book notes:
The second arm of the acquisition of Zairean assets by the invaders was through the state-owned mining company, Gecamines. This was handled by the American Mineral Fields (AMF), which is based in former US president Bill Clinton’s home town of Hope in Arkansas, but run from Canada. According to its prospectus: “for the acquisition and development of world-class mineral deposits.” The contract was signed mid-April, 1996 between the AMF main shareholder Jean-Raymonde Boulle who said the company strategy was “to go for the highest grades and the largest deposits” and added that Zaire was destined to become the African Chile. He described the change in Zaire as “the triumphant liberation of the people of Zaire.
AMF acquired the copper-zinc mine at Kapushi in Shaba province, which was regarded as one of prime copper-zinc mines in the world. Copper and zinc here are normally mined together. It is known that reserves in this mine stand at 22.6 million tons of copper and zinc, grading 2.1 per cent copper and 13.8 per cent zinc. To make matters even more revealing, AMF was, as we have seen above, the brainchild of Jean-Raymond Boulle, a former executive of South Africa’s De Beers Diamonds, which is the diamonds arm of the Anglo-American Corporation. Because of this, it soon turned out that AMF had acquired the Kapushi mine partly on behalf of Anglo-American Corporation. AMF soon signed an agreement with Anglo-American Corporation, which allowed it to invest up to US $100 million in any AMF ventures in Shaba province. This represented a 50 per cent equity stake in the new venture and acquisition, including the Kapushi mine itself. Anglo-American was weaving a web of interests around Zaire for the Club of Isles through these intricate “acquisitions”.One of the most interesting twists to all this was the fact that AMF had put at the disposal of Kabila its hired corporate jet during the rebellion. At the same time another company owned by Boulle himself called American Diamond Buyers, had paid US $25,000 to the Kabila forces (instead of the US $150,000 which was payable to the Mobutu treasury) to procure the first diamond trading license from the new government still-in-making.
...
Within two weeks of the deal, AMF stock had risen by 100 per cent on the New York stock exchange from about US $ 3 to $ 7 a share. Its capitalisation went up to US $ 37 billion. The report said, AMF expected the shares to go even higher “as Kabila’s government consolidates its power”. To reveal its exploits, AMF arranged a show-trip for 35 investment bankers, newsletter writers and US House of Representatives member, Cynthia McKinney, a Georgian Democrat. Indeed this high profile show-trip revealed the confidence these leading investment bankers, such as SBC Warburg and Dutsch Morgan Grenfell, ‘the biggest bank outside of Japan’, had in the new changes that had taken place in Zaire.
Naidoo, Sagaren (2003). "Economic motivation for the DRC conflict by Sagaren Naidoo". The War Economy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (PDF). Braamfontein: Institute for Global Dialogue. ISBN 1-919697-63-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The book notes:
... The two main new Anglo-American mining conglomerates that stood at the heart of this alliance were American Mineral Fields Inc. (AMFI) and Barrick Gold Corporation.
AMFI is based in Hope, Arkansas, and chaired by Mike McMurrough, said to be a personal friend of former US President Bill Clinton. As Nabudere notes in his chapter, AMFI directly financed the ADFL’s military campaign to remove Mobutu by, for example, putting at the disposal of Kabila its hired corporate jet. In return AMFI secured the copper-zinc mine at Kapushi in Katanga (Shaba) province, regarded as one of prime copper-zinc mines in the world, even before the AFDL captured Kinshasa. However, the relationship between the AFDL rebels and AMFI extended beyond copper and zinc to involve space technology. David Moore points out in his chapter that one of the biggest hopes when Kabila marched from the borders of Rwanda to Kinshasa was a US $ 60 billion contract to construct the orbital platform in replacement of the Russian MIR station. Although sixty countries, with many more enterprises and industries participated in the bid, the contract was awarded to AMFI. The special alloys in the composition of numerous pieces of this space contraption requires enormous quantities of rare and precious metals, such as cobalt, niobium, tungsten and coltan, all of which are present under Congolese soil.
McNish, Jacquie (1998). The Big Score. Toronto: Doubleday Canada. p. 330. ISBN 0-385-25758-9. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The book notes:
While Friedland receded from the Canadian stage, Jean-Raymond Boulle grabbed the limelight in Africa, where he was making a name for himself as an audacious mining entrepreneur. Operating from his new Vancouver-listed penny-stock company, American Mineral Fields, which was based in Hope, Arkansas, under the watchful eye of his still-faithful lieutenant, Michael McMurrough, the Hummingbird began accumulating mining rights and concessions in a number of African countries. In April 1997 he looked to have struck it rich again when his tiny company signed a $1-billion deal with Zairian rebels who were on the verge of toppling dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Rebel leader Laurent Kabila promised Boulle the right to mine high-grade copper and cobalt tailings near the southern city of Kolwezi. To help cement the deal, Boulle put his chartered Lear jet at the rebel leader's disposal. When Kabila marched into the country's capital a month later, American Mineral Fields had scooped much larger competitors with one of the first mining contracts of the renamed Democratic Republic of Congo.
Boulle's African gamble won him laudatory profiles in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Financial Times of London, while boosting American Mineral Fields' stock price to $9 a share. Six months later, however, the deal with Congo's fickle government began to unravel under pressure from larger mining companies. On January 2, 1998, the Kabila regime cancelled its contract for the Kolwezi tailings. One week later, American Mineral Fields sued South Africa's Anglo American Corp. for $3 billion (U.S.) for allegedly interfering with its Congo deal. In March, American Mineral Fields dropped the suit, and three months later, the two companies buried the hatchet and announced they would seek to jointly develop the Kolwezi project. As of July 1998, they were still negotiating with the government of Congo for the rights to do so.
Renton, David; Seddon, David; Zeilig, Leo (2007). The Congo Plunder & Resistance. London: Zed Books. pp. 181–182, 186, 196, 209. ISBN 1-84277-484-0. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The book notes on page 181:
While Mobutu might have had only token legality as president in 1996, mining companies wasted no time to meet with the rebel leader. De Beers and American Mineral Fields signed contracts with Kabila that were worth an estimated $3 billion a year.
The book notes on page 182:
Kennes is correct when he asserts that American Mineral Fields' interests were mainly speculative. By 1998, the boom was largely over, and the ambitious projects of mineral extraction had come to nothing. American Mineral Fields may have been listed on the Vancouver and Toronto stock exchanges, but it lacked sufficient capital to develop mines on its own. The logic of its own situation required it to over-advertise its role. Braeckman writes, 'what counts for the "juniors" is to play an "avant garde" role, [to] find the deposits in high risk zones where more important companies would not dare to go and then secure a contract that can be developed by more experienced companies.' The money that was given to Kabila's Alliance was made available under these conditions, and the 'juniors' expected their speculation to be followed by the involvement of more 'senior', bigger capital.
The book notes on page 186:
As for American Mineral Fields, its representatives signed three agreements totalling nearly a billion dollars for the extraction of copper and cobalt in Kolwezi, cobalt in Kipushi, and the construction of a factory for the treatment of zinc in Kipushi. 'In Kisangani, Braeckman writes, 'AMF already had acquired an office to buy diamonds, and in Lubumbashi, the company demonstrated their generosity to the rebels, who benefited by an "advance" of 51 million dollars … to finance the war still being fought and to secure a date for transactions in the future.'
The book notes on page 196:
At the time of the second war, American Mineral Fields purchased diamond concessions in the Cuango Valley along the Congolese–Angolan border from a firm of Belgian speculators. This was a familiar pattern; entrepreneurs would acquire concessions and then sell them on at increased prices to bigger players.
The book notes on page 209:
Behind the dead stood the profits of regional powers and multinationals. The current phase of plunder was often initiated by relatively small groups of speculators, who crisscrossed the Congo as Kabila's army approached the capital in 1997. There is no better example of this group than American Mineral Fields. Though listed on various stock exchanges they were in reality little more than 'adventurers' who lacked sufficient capital to invest in the concessions that were sold to them by Kabila. They were what the Congo expert Colette Braeckman has described as 'juniors', the advance guard who sought the investment and interest of bigger players.
"Mining in Congo: Kolwezi tailings". The Economist. 1998-01-15. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
LAST April, amid much publicity, Jean-Raymond Boulle, the chairman of American Mineral Fields (AMF), a small mining company listed in Canada, signed a $1 billion deal with the Zairean rebel movement led by Laurent Kabila. To cement the deal, Mr Boulle lent Mr Kabila his aeroplane, gambling that Mr Kabila would win the war against President Mobutu Sese Seko and open a treasure-trove of mineral wealth. When Mr Kabila's forces marched into the capital, Kinshasa, a month later, it looked as if Mr Boulle had indeed scooped his larger rivals. But earlier this month Congo's state mining company, Gecamines, cancelled the deal. Also under review is the huge Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt project, said to be the largest copper deposit in the world, in which Tenke Mining, another Canadian mining company, had a joint venture with Gecamines.
The $1 billion AMF deal was to reprocess the tailings at the Kolwezi copper and cobalt mine in southern Congo. These heaps of waste are richer in metal than ore being dug out of some current mines. Using today's leaching technology, the tailings at Kolwezi could yield roughly 1.44m tonnes of copper and 275,000 tonnes of cobalt.
AMF won a tender launched in November 1995, but, at the request of South Africa's Anglo American Corporation, the bidding was reopened. Furious, Mr Boulle visited the rebel headquarters at Goma in April, judging that Mr Kabila might prefer small firms to the giants who had been close to Mr Mobutu for so long. Mr Kabila's officials studied the tender and agreed that AMF had indeed won. A deal was signed.
McClearn, Matthew (2012-06-05). "How First Quantum settled with ENRC for compensation over Congolese mine". Canadian Business. Vol. 85, no. 10. ISSN 0008-3100. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
American Mineral Fields (AMF), a small mining company, exploited this. In April 1997, just months before Kabila took Kinshasa, it signed a joint venture agreement with Kabila to exploit the tailings.
The question was how long AMF could hold on to its prize.
Not long. Kabila’s advisers warned that AMF might sell Kolwezi to a bigger company, pocketing profits that ought to wind up in government coffers. So Kabila cancelled the deal and held talks with other foreign companies to form a new consortium. That’s when First Quantum entered the picture. Then a nascent, junior mining company, it acquired a 51% stake in four tailings dumps, including two at Kolwezi. AMF was outraged. But the Congo’s mining minister brushed it off as an exceptional case.
...
Among those returning was AMF. Evidently undeterred by its earlier experience, this time it negotiated a 65% stake in Kolwezi Tailings. But First Quantum hadn’t given up, either. It bought AMF in 2006 after a protracted takeover battle, thus acquiring Kolwezi a second time. It and several partners committed to invest nearly $600 million in the project. Soon afterward, it committed $450 million to develop another Congolese mine. When completed, these mines would more than double the company’s production capacity.
Lokongo, Antoine (June 2001). "Congo: Business as Usual? (New African Market)". New African. No. 397. Retrieved 2020-04-10 – via Questia Online Library.
The article notes:
In March 1997, as soon as Kisangani fell to Laurent Kabila's AFDL rebel force, the mining giant, American Mineral Fields, set up an office in Goma as a contact point with Kabila.
Trading under the initials AMZ, American Mineral Fields was formed in 1995 to develop diamond interests in Brazil. It operated from Bill Clinton's home-state of Arkansas, but later shifted its focus to Congo's vast mineral resources.
The contact with Congo was made through a retired Belgian colonel, Willy Mallant, who served both Mobutu and Kabila as military advisor. AMZ succeded in winning the bid for the exploration of copper and cobalt at Tenke-Fungurume in Katanga, a concession that belonged to the state-owned Gecamines.
AMZ's victory was at the expense of the South African mining giant, Anglo American, and Belgium's Union Miniere both of which had been granted licences by Mobutu before his overthrow to mine copper and cobalt in Kasomba and Kolwezi respectively.
...
A new management team was appointed in 1999 and Belgium's Union Miniere, the world's largest refiner of cobalt and zinc, acquired 11% interest in the joint venture with the option to increase its investment to 20%.
But by revising the contracts, Kabila thus signed not only his own fate but that of the country as well. The rest is history.
Morais, Richard C. (1998-08-09). "Friends in high places". Forbes. Vol. 162, no. 3. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
The Robertson Stephens Orphan Fund, for example, was among AMF's biggest shareholders when it was first listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1996. Jean Boulle guided Paul Stephens, the San Francisco firm's cofounder, on a trip through Africa around 1994, treating him to barbecued warthog and a lunch with Namibia's president.
...
Since then Boulle has gone his own way and concentrated on America Mineral Fields, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of $90 million. Boulle is not an officer of AMF, but 42% of its shares are held by Luxembourg-based corporations controlled by him. Now he's trying to merge AMF into Nord Resources, an NYSE-traded mining firm in which he has a 28.5% stake.
...
Starting in May 1996, Boulle's AMF began buying the IDAS affiliate with the diamond rights, paying $2.3 million in cash and shares, plus a back-end share of profits capped at $84 million if enough diamonds are produced.
...
Suddenly Anglo American and Boulle were partners, and the suit was dropped. Tim Read, Merrill Lynch International Ltd.'s managing director of metals and mining investment banking, brokered the peace treaty: Anglo American Corp. is paying $16 million to become a 50/50 partner in AMF'S Kolwezi Tailings Project, with additional financing ready when Kabila green-lights the project with a presidential decree.
Boulle and AMF now stand to make a huge amount of money as the Democratic Republic of the Congo tries to restore the copper industry — all but shut down in the civil war. Will AMF, a small company, reap the reward because of its mining expertise? Unlikely. Most of that will be supplied by Anglo American. Jean Boulle's real contributions to the deal are his political connections and political savvy. One more foreigner exploiting Africa's desperate struggle for development and stability.
Block, Robert (1997-04-14). "Mining Firms Want a Piece Of Zaire's Vast Mineral Wealth". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
American Mineral, perhaps the most assiduous of the foreign firms currently seeking deals in Zaire, was founded in 1995 by Mike McMurrough, a land surveyor from President Clinton's home town in Arkansas, and Mr. Boulle, a mining venture capitalist. Mr. Boulle is also behind Diamond Fields Resources, a Canadian firm that discovered Voisey Bay, a Canadian mineral find with 150 million tons of proven copper and cobalt reserves.
...
American Mineral had already acquired zinc concessions on the Zambian side of the border and saw the Kipushi zinc mine on the Zairian side as an addition that would enhance the company's clout over world zinc production. The zinc plan furthered another goal: One byproduct of zinc smelting is sulfuric acid, a key ingredient in processing copper. "With Kipushi, we hold the key to reopening the copper belt of southern Africa," Mr. Boulle says.
...
American Mineral's presence is already having an impact on its international rivals. The rebels recently seized a shipment of diamonds in the city of Mbuji Mayi, in the diamond-producing province of eastern Kasai. The diamonds, which had been bound for De Beers, were offered to Mr. Boulle by the rebels. Worried that it was about to lose its grip on Zaire's diamond industry, De Beers flew up a team of representatives to Goma Friday to negotiate with the rebel government.
Bodipo-Memba, Alejandro; Block, Robert (1998-01-09). "America Mineral Fields Sues Anglo-American Over Contract". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
America Mineral Fields Inc. sued Anglo-American Corp. of South Africa and affiliated companies in Texas state court in Dallas, seeking $3 billion in actual and punitive damages.
The Hope, Ark., mining company contends that Anglo-American engaged in "tortious interference" with a lucrative mining contract in the Congo, formerly Zaire, causing that nation to terminate the contract. America Mineral alleges that Anglo-American undermined its April 1997 contract to explore and develop the Kolwezi copper and cobalt metals-tailings project in the Congo's Katanga province. Anglo-American, through a spokesman, denied the allegations.
"Anglo American, American Mineral End Legal Battle, Plan Joint Venture". The Wall Street Journal. 1998-06-23. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
South Africa's Anglo American Corp. said Tuesday it has ended a bitter legal dispute with U.S. mining group American Mineral Fields Inc. over control of the Kolewzi copper-and-cobalt metal-tailings project in Congo.
...
In January, American Mineral filed a lawsuit in a Dallas court seeking $3 billion in actual and punitive damages and accusing Anglo of lobbying the government of Laurent-Desire Kabila to revoke an agreement signed in April 1997 giving the U.S. miner 51% of the Kolwezi property. American Mineral's agreement with Congo called for it to pay $85 million for the project and between $250 million and $300 million to build the plant. The Kolwezi project is expected to yield about 6,000 tons of cobalt and 50,000 tons of copper a year.
"The Politics of mining". Finweek. 2007-11-02. ISSN 1812-4658.
The article notes:
Defunct mining company American Mineral Fields gained profile in the late Nineties. Its claim to fame? It had the rights to develop highly prospective copper and cobalt fields in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga province. But that was before the five-year civil war that rubbed out any chance it had of ever realising the metals from the deposit and continues to haunt current incumbents in the DRC.
Ashurst, Mark (1998-02-06). "Congo seeks to boost investor confidence". Financial Times.
The article notes:
Officials from the Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, yesterday launched a counter-offensive to salvage investor confidence in the mineral-rich country.
The move follows a damaging dispute with American Mineral Fields (AMF) , a Toronto-listed mining group which signed agreements with rebel leaders during last year's civil war.
...
His comments follow a decision last month to cancel a $1bn agreement for AMF to develop a copper tailings project at Kolwezi,in Katanga province. AMF has blamed Anglo American , South Africa's biggest company, for interfering in its dealings with Gecamines and the Congo government.
Last month, the Dallas-headquartered company began legal action against the South African group in a Texan court. AMF is claiming damages of $3bn for "lost opportunity" from Anglo and its sister companies, De Beers and Minorco.
Simpkins, Edward, ed. (2005-05-08). "Market miscellany". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
Shares in Adastra Minerals (80p) have come off their all-time high of 97p in March and are looking good - the company is finalising a feasibility study to raise finance to build the world's largest cobalt mine.
Adastra's Kolwezi cobalt and copper project is the world's largest surface cobalt resource. When the mine is up and running, it is expected to be one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's largest foreign currency earners.
The company is close to agreeing a $340m (£179) project finance package, backed by an offtake agreement for the 5,500 tonnes per year of cobalt and 30,000 tonnes per year of copper it plans to produce. With demand for cobalt, which is used in modern batteries for mobile gadgets, growing fast, the shares are a buy.
Simpkins, Edward, ed. (2006-01-22). "Market miscellany". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
In May last year we recommended buying shares in Adastra Minerals (120p) when they stood at 80p, so readers who took our advice are sitting on a profit of 37.5 per cent.
The company owns the world's largest cobalt and copper surface resource at Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The resource is in the form of waste material from former mining activity which now fills several valleys and is expected to produce 5,500 tonnes per year of cobalt and 30,000 tonnes of copper.
Last week Adastra received a hostile all-share bid from First Quantum, the London-based copper miner active in Zambia and the DRC. First Quantum argues that as a local operator it already has the skills, equipment and capital in place to bring the project into production cheaply, quickly and efficiently.
First Quantum now has an established track record, and those who followed our advice to buy shares in the company at 206p in March 2003 are enjoying an amazing uplift of 800 per cent - the shares closed at £18.50 on Friday. Adastra shareholders should accept the offer.
Wong, Craig (2004-06-04). "Adastra Minerals' Board Dismisses First Quantum's Offer". Modern Trader. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
Adastra Minerals Inc. rejected an hostile takeover offer from First Quantum Minerals Ltd. on Tuesday, calling the all-stock offer too low and "opportunistic."
...
UBS analyst Tony Lesiak noted that Adastra's key Kolwezi copper and cobalt project as well as the company's Kipushi copper and zinc mine are well endowed and in First Quantum's backyard.
Matthews, Charlotte (2005-09-01). "Adastra gets jungle fever as Congo plans flower". Business Day. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
COPPER and cobalt company Adastra Minerals’ $300m Kolwezi cobalt and copper tailings deposit in Democratic Republic of Congo is attracting a high level of interest from South African financiers.
...
Management of Adastra, a junior mining group, has been knocking on banks’ doors for years and has been careful to "underpromise and overdeliver", Pryor says. Obviously, hitches arise in a project of this nature but Adastra has been pragmatic in its predictions, he says.
...
Around Kolwezi, Adastra’s project enjoys good rail, power and water infrastructure.
To date, Adastra has secured equity participation in the Kolwezi project from the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, which has taken a 7,5% stake, and from SA’s Industrial Development Corporation, which has taken 10%.
Bain, Julie (2003-09-26). "Newly listed mine group eyes Africa". Business Day. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
AMERICA Mineral Fields, which has projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market yesterday as it moved to build up its British and European investor base.
The secondary listing took place yesterday afternoon at a listing price of 55,5p.
America Mineral Fields said it had raised $15m in an open offer on the Toronto stock exchange, where the company had it primary listing.
The money raised through the open offer, which the company said attracted 12 institutional investors, many based in the UK and Europe, will be used to carry out a feasibility study at two tailings dams at the Kolwezi copper and cobalt project in the Congo.
Taylor, Ian (2003). "Conflict in Central Africa: Clandestine Networks & Regional/Global Configurations". Review of African Political Economy. 30 (95): 48. doi:10.1080/03056240308372. ISSN 0305-6244. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
The article notes:
Indeed, Kabila’s interactions with outside business interests and the history of such interactions are a compelling part of the story regarding the rise and demise of Kabila senior and a precautionary tale for Kabila junior. Kabila renewed mining concessions to international companies even before the end of the civil war and his formal accession to the presidency of the ‘Democratic Republic of the Congo’. One of the first major deals signed was with American Mineral Fields (AMF) – a $1 billion agreement for AMF to mine copper, cobalt and zinc. AMF is an intriguing example of an international interlocutor in the Congo war which has links with the very top of Washington’s political elites. Whilst it was involved in the DRC its headquarters were in Hope, Arkansas – Clinton’s hometown. Its senior stockholders comprised veteran political friends of Clinton (Morais, 1998:50). The link between this influential company and American foreign policy in the region is important. According to Madsen, testifying on the war in the DRC before the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights of the United States House of Representatives:
America Mineral Fields directly benefited from America’s initial covert military and intelligence support for Kabila. It is my observation that America’s early support for Kabila, which was aided and abetted by U.S. allies Rwanda and Uganda, had less to do with getting rid of the Mobutu regime than it had to do with opening up Congo’s vast mineral riches to North American-based and influenced mining companies (Madsen, 2001:7).

There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow Adastra Minerals (formerly American Mineral Fields) to pass Wikipedia:Notability#General notability guideline, which requires "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject".

Cunard (talk) 09:18, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Adastra Minerals was known previously as American Mineral Fields, Inc. (AMFI). It played a role in overthrowing Zaire's leader, Mobutu Sese Seko. From a 2003 book published by Institute for Global Dialogue, "As Nabudere notes in his chapter, AMFI directly financed the ADFL's military campaign to remove Mobutu by, for example, putting at the disposal of Kabila its hired corporate jet. In return AMFI secured the copper-zinc mine at Kapushi in Katanga (Shaba) province, regarded as one of prime copper-zinc mines in the world, even before the AFDL captured Kinshasa."
Author and journalist Colette Braeckman wrote in a French-language book published by Fayard (the translation is from the Zed Books book), "'AMF already had acquired an office to buy diamonds, and in Lubumbashi, the company demonstrated their generosity to the rebels, who benefited by an "advance" of 51 million dollars … to finance the war still being fought and to secure a date for transactions in the future."
In 1998, The Wall Street Journal called the company "perhaps the most assiduous of the foreign firms currently seeking deals in Zaire".
A 2006 article in The Daily Telegraph said that Adastra Minerals "own[ed] the world's largest cobalt and copper surface resource at Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo".
The company received substantial analysis in a 2007 Zed Books book: "Behind the dead stood the profits of regional powers and multinationals. The current phase of plunder was often initiated by relatively small groups of speculators, who crisscrossed the Congo as Kabila's army approached the capital in 1997. There is no better example of this group than American Mineral Fields. Though listed on various stock exchanges they were in reality little more than 'adventurers' who lacked sufficient capital to invest in the concessions that were sold to them by Kabila. They were what the Congo expert Colette Braeckman has described as 'juniors', the advance guard who sought the investment and interest of bigger players."
The company has received significant coverage in international sources in Canada, South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom: Canadian Business, The Daily Telegraph, The Economist, Finweek, Forbes, New African, and The Wall Street Journal.
Cunard (talk) 09:18, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

KEEP I think Cunard has proven without any possible doubt this is a notable company, and has gotten ample coverage to prove it. Dream Focus 13:49, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Keep because of the excellent research collected above. 67.243.20.177 (talk) 17:16, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Given the overwhelming amount of sources provided by the voters, I would be fine withdrawing the AfD. Although, I'm not sure what the process is to do so. That said, if they are only notable for what they did as American Mineral Fields, Inc. (which is how it seems) then the article should be under the title of "American Mineral Fields, Inc." and this article should be forwarded to there or something IMO. --Adamant1 (talk) 18:44, 10 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

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