A Democratic Republic of Congo court appointed a liquidator for First Quantum Minerals Ltd.’s $750 million Kolwezi project, escalating a yearlong dispute between the Canadian mining company and the Congolese government.
An Appeal Court in Kinshasa notified First Quantum on Aug. 2 that the copper and cobalt project “is in the process of being liquidated and appointed a Congolese liquidator,” the Vancouver- based company said in a statement today. First Quantum is “considering all means of recourse,” it said.
“The liquidator will provide a valuation report,” First Quantum spokeswoman Sharon Loung said by phone today from Toronto. “The court will still need to approve the redistribution of assets.”
The Kolwezi project, which is part-owned by the World Bank’s International Finance Corp. and the Industrial Development Corp. of South Africa, was closed in September by the Congolese government after the joint venture allegedly failed to fulfill its contractual requirements.
“Affirmative!” said Congolese Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu in a mobile-phone text message when asked whether the Kolwezi project would be liquidated. He didn’t comment further.
The dispute is the subject of arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris and First Quantum said it is in the process of filing for immediate relief from the Congolese court decision at the ICC tribunal.
New Contract
Highwind Properties Ltd., incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on Sept. 4, has signed a new contract for the Kolwezi concession, according to six people with knowledge of the matter. The company is still awaiting presidential approval of the accord.
While First Quantum has seen the new Highwind contract, it declined to comment on the matter, Loung said.
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., a Kazakh metal producer that already has mining interests in Congo through Central African Mining and Exploration Co., is also interested in the Kolwezi concession, Chief Executive Officer Felix Vulis said in an interview on June 30.
First Quantum shares fell for the first time this month, dropping C$1.43, or 2.1 percent, to C$65.94 at 12:58 p.m. in Toronto.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Kavanagh in Kinshasa on mkavanagh9[at]bloomberg.net.
View the Original article Also On shopping
No comments:
Post a Comment