How An Australian Company ‎Deceives Its Shareholders

Geoff Blackburn and Somali guide, a mining expert, that Range claimed was pictured at an old coal workings which in reality never existed

Hargeysa, Somaliland, April 15, 2006 – The Australian company Range Resource ltd announced on March 3, 2006 that it’s experts had completed an initial reconnaissance of the main mineral prospective areas of Puntland.

According to the announcement, the areas visited by Range teams included Majiyahan, an area at the Somaliland/Puntland border and inhabited by the Warsengali tribes who are firmly opposed to the mineral exploration activities pursued by the Australian company.

The Range report claims that its field teams experienced no difficulty with access, logistics and security. The report makes no mention of the fighting that has been raging between Puntland militia and the Warsengali tribesmen at Majiyahan since early March.

Yet the Australian company claims that it didn’t send its teams to the disputed border areas and wouldn’t do so in the future.

The way that Range has strewn its report with naked lies on the nature of prevalent security situation suggested that the information was not meant for Somalis but rather for domestic consumption in Australia.

Range attempts to give its shareholders and the Australian public a rosy picture about the situation in Somalia’s Puntland province. It tries to give the impression that Puntland has an elected parliament.

The report doesn’t differentiate between the democratic and internationally observed presidential and parliamentary elections that took place in Somaliland from the non-elected authority that rules Puntland.

Source: Somaliland Times