NEWSECONOMY
Paris ICC arbitration procedure between AVZ Int and Jing Cheng (ZIJIN) on the Congo lithium project, clarification by the Australians
October 9, 2023
Kiki Kienge
By Kiki Kienge
Jin Cheng Mining Company, a subsidiary of the Chinese mining giant, ZIJIN Mining, which claims to own 15% of the shares (of COMINIERE) in the Manono lithium joint venture in the province of Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The purchase of this 15% of Congolese lithium was done illegally and trampled on the law of the country and joint venture agreements, according to the IGF (General Inspectorate of Finance), organ of the presidency of the republic, headed by the charismatic , Jules Alingete .
- In addition to the pre-emption rights claimed by the Australian group AVZ MINERALS;
- the sale price judged by the IGF to be derisory given the value of lithium on the international market at the time of the sale, US$2,200,000 for 1% of the sale than the US$10,000,000 on the market;
- There is in particular an audio attributed to the former ad interim general director, Célestin Kibeya who was appointed by presidential order as now the general director of COMINIERE, who would ask a “commission agent” in the sale of the 15%, to reveal on the invoice 33,440,000 $US than the 35,500,000 $US that the Chinese of ZIJIN will actually pay, therefore a difference of 2,060,000 $US which will disappear from the coffers of the Congolese State.
https://x.com/KiengeKki/status/1644687268861411332?s=20
Details of the procedure, source Jusmundi:
- on October 5, 2022, the sole arbitrator granted AVZI's request to bifurcate the procedure, noting that the document production phase had ended on February 22, 2023;
- on December 9, 2022, Jin Cheng submitted his statement on jurisdiction and AVZI submitted his response on jurisdiction on March 10, 2023;
- Jin Cheng will submit a rejoinder on jurisdiction on March 22, 2023; And
- the jurisdictional hearing will take place on April 19 and 20, 2023.
Update on arbitration procedures from October 9, 2023 from AVZ INTERNATIONAL :
MINERALS LIMITED.
ICC Arbitration Hearing, Jin Cheng Jurisdictional Challenge.
AVZ Minerals Limited (ASX: AVZ, OTC: AZZVF) (AVZ) provides an update on the ICC arbitration proceedings (No. 26986/SP) initiated by Jin Cheng Mining Company.
(Jin Cheng), a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Limited (Zijin), which claims to have acquired a 15% stake in Dathcom Mining SA (Dathcom) from La Congolaise d'Exploitation Minière (Cominière).
AVZ International Pty Ltd (AVZI) declared itself incompetent in this matter, on the grounds that Jin Cheng does not have the right to resort to arbitration, in particular because it is not a shareholder of Dathcom as such , because the alleged acquisition of its 15% stake from Cominière was ineffective and took place in violation of AVZl's right of pre-emption.
A hearing on AVZI's objection to jurisdiction was held on October 5 and 6, 2023 before the arbitral tribunal in Paris, the parties' lawyers will review and agree on the transcripts, and AVZ and Jing Cheng will submit briefs after the audience.
The sole arbitrator will determine a procedural timetable in the coming weeks, with the company providing an update.
As previously stated, AVZ is confident that the challenge to AVZI's jurisdiction will be successful, which will confirm that Jin Cheng has no right to initiate the ICC arbitration proceeding against AVZI based on the agreement concluded between the two parties on the grounds that he is a purported shareholder of Dathcom.