Madagascar - 25 August 2015

Madagascar faces uphill struggle to revive bruised mining sector When foreign mining firms and Western donors were pulling funds out of Madagascar following a coup in 2009, Austral Resources chief executive Scott Reid did the opposite and poured money in to the Indian Ocean island. Yet far from being rewarded, the company’s $3.5 million investment in drilling and exploration of a high-grade mine has turned sour. Austral’s permit to extract zircon, used in ceramics, has expired and the project is far from production. Reuters