This story reinforces the perception of African sovereign risks. These sorts of issues have been very much on the minds of uranium investors that have a stake in companies with Namibian deposits….

Today’s Reuters article below shows that “Out of Africa” could be more than just a catchy film title… Where to go after Africa is for some investors reminiscent of the film Exodus. Personally I have returned nearly all of my holdings back to Australia… sure I might miss a lot of upside but I mighyt also miss the spears… unless I’m in NSW or WA coal seam gas or uranium almost anywhere in Australia after July….

(Reuters) – South Africa’s big three gold miners are upping their global presence as grades at home dwindle and regulatory uncertainty, nationalization talk and labor unrest raise domestic political risks.

The country also has the world’s deepest mines, making operations there increasingly costly and dangerous.

But the scramble out of South Africa is hardly risk free.

Following are some facts about their growing operations outside the country and some of the political risks they face.

GOLD FIELDS

Gold Fields, the world’s fourth-largest gold miner, is searching for El Dorado in Latin America.

It has invested heavily in Peru where production at its Cerro Corona mine is seen falling to between 330,000 and 360,000 ounces of gold equivalent in 2011, from 406,000 ounces in 2010.

Gold Fields is also exploring options in neighboring countries while moving ahead with Chucapaca, its $750 million Peruvian venture with Buenaventura. Its resources surpass 5.6 million ounces of gold equivalent and the target is to start production in 2015.

But the political risks in Peru are high.

Gold Fields has temporarily suspended its project in Hualgayoc, another joint venture with Buenaventura, due to social unrest in the area.

Sunday’s presidential run-off election in Peru pits a left-wing nationalist against a far rightest and both favor raising taxes on miners to fund social programs.

HARMONY

Harmony Gold, the world’s fifth-largest gold producer, is betting on its Papua New Guinea operations.

Its Wafi-Golpu project, which it shares with Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd, is seen as especially exciting though its estimates on production and costs remain very preliminary and wide.

It may yield 300,000 to 700,000 ounces of gold a year or 200,000 to 320,000 metric tones of copper. The costs have been pegged at $3 billion, but Harmony has said it could be closer to $4 billion of which it would be responsible for half. Papua New Guinea hardly offers a lower political risk environment than South Africa.

In Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, it ranks 154th out of 178 countries surveyed, tied with the likes of Russia and Kenya and below Libya and Iran.

Papua New Guinea is also high on the radar screens of global conservation groups and campaigners as it is seen as a “Lost World” of unique wildlife and biodiversity. So mining operations there are increasingly coming under environmental scrutiny.

ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI

Africa’s largest gold producer AngloGold Ashanti is boldly going where none of its peers had gone before.

It has operations in 11 countries and as of August, 2010, its non-South African operations accounted for 60 percent of its global output.

It is also exploring in some political hot spots, notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Eritrea.

AngloGold has significant operations in Mali, which is dealing with an Islamist insurgency and is becoming a magnet for drug trafficking.

But many of its operations are in politically stable countries such as Ghana, Namibia and the United States.