AVZ Discussion 2022

[Goldenboy]

From Amovatio on the Crapper.

Danny, did you give any thought to the chronology of current and future events in relation to your statement? Why would AVZ walk away and cancel the legal proceedings when the Court hearing is scheduled to kick off in under 4 weeks? AVZ would lose its strategic advantage if it withdrew the legal proceedings before the ICSID without any form of confirmed settlement to our claim.
What would be the catalyst for a buyout/payout to occur when the USA hasn’t signed an Agreement with the DRC and there is no commitment from either party to include AVZ’S CLAIM in the settlement terms. KoBold metals and RIO would not be interested until the USA Administration has a formal legal commitment.
AVZ Lawyers and the ICSID judicial party are about to issue subpoena's on the DRC to ensure they have adequate time to arrange flights to the hearing.
The ICSID Hearing may not be a critical timeline on the agenda of the USA but you can bet it’s a high priority for the DRC.
Why hasn’t the DRC been more proactive in looking for a settlement? The answer is simple, they just don’t understand the context of International Law and don’t get the actions they orchestrated against AVZ were in fact illegal.
I don’t think they even understand the complexity of the organisation that has to happen for delegates from the DRC, Cominiere, Dathomir, Zijin Mining group and the President of the DRC all having to attend the Court Hearing to take the stand and answer questions from AVZ Lawyers to give context to the depth of corruption and fraudulent actions that caused AVZ's Mining Licence to be cancelled. I can see them all lining up one by one and throwing each other under the bus if the Court hearing is to go ahead.

The DRC is about to learn in a big way what is going to happen one way or another and very soon. Any agreement the DRC signs with the USA (before June) will most certainly include, the settlement terms AVZ has submitted under its claim before the ICSID Hearing or should the ICSID Hearing go ahead as scheduled the payment terms from the verdict decided upon from the ICSID including the totality of fines and sanctions that are handed down (2-3 months post hearing).
IMO the USA has already stipulated to the DRC and Rwanda they need to sign a Peace Deal asap before the USA will sign off on any Minerals deal. The Declaration of Principles which they both signed was a significant step they both signed for peace and prosperity in their regions More recently both regions submitted their terms to the USA administration for the Peace deal suggesting these ISSUES are of extreme importance.

The compelling date for the DRC, more importantly, is very soon (before June), not in a couple of months, so this is becoming very urgent for them and they seem to be moving quickly, with very good reason.
In President Trumps's first 100 days he suspended the payment of $4M in international AID to the DRC and Rwanda and said he would review this over the next 3 months. Well that time is about now so the USA is also using this as leverage.

If the price being paid to AVZ is going to come from USA financial sources or investment companies there is every reason for the DRC to get a settlement done with AVZ asap. The total investment being discussed with the USA including the Lobito corridor and other Mining projects for copper, cobalt, uranium and many other critical minerals on the USA agenda put the payout to AVZ as being relatively small.
Nigel and Piper lawyers are in the USA so we know their presence in country has significance and meetings/ negotiations we can assume are happening to bring about an amicable resolution.
AVZ SHS would all be hoping a settlement announcement is made very soon or we continue with our Claim before the ICSID.

 

[Dave Evans]

From Amovatio on the Crapper.

@Goldenboy I cut and pasted your crapper post below

Danny, did you give any thought to the chronology of current and future events in relation to your statement? Why would AVZ walk away and cancel the legal proceedings when the Court hearing is scheduled to kick off in under 4 weeks? AVZ would lose its strategic advantage if it withdrew the legal proceedings before the ICSID without any form of confirmed settlement to our claim.

What would be the catalyst for a buyout/payout to occur when the USA hasn’t signed an Agreement with the DRC and there is no commitment from either party to include AVZ’S CLAIM in the settlement terms. KoBold metals and RIO would not be interested until the USA Administration has a formal legal commitment.

AVZ Lawyers and the ICSID judicial party are about to issue subpoena's on the DRC to ensure they have adequate time to arrange flights to the hearing.

The ICSID Hearing may not be a critical timeline on the agenda of the USA but you can bet it’s a high priority for the DRC.

Why hasn’t the DRC been more proactive in looking for a settlement? The answer is simple, they just don’t understand the context of International Law and don’t get the actions they orchestrated against AVZ were in fact illegal.

I don’t think they even understand the complexity of the organisation that has to happen for delegates from the DRC, Cominiere, Dathomir, Zijin Mining group and the President of the DRC all having to attend the Court Hearing to take the stand and answer questions from AVZ Lawyers to give context to the depth of corruption and fraudulent actions that caused AVZ's Mining Licence to be cancelled. I can see them all lining up one by one and throwing each other under the bus if the Court hearing is to go ahead.

The DRC is about to learn in a big way what is going to happen one way or another and very soon. Any agreement the DRC signs with the USA (before June) will most certainly include, the settlement terms AVZ has submitted under its claim before the ICSID Hearing or should the ICSID Hearing go ahead as scheduled the payment terms from the verdict decided upon from the ICSID including the totality of fines and sanctions that are handed down (2-3 months post hearing).

IMO the USA has already stipulated to the DRC and Rwanda they need to sign a Peace Deal asap before the USA will sign off on any Minerals deal. The Declaration of Principles which they both signed was a significant step they both signed for peace and prosperity in their regions More recently both regions submitted their terms to the USA administration for the Peace deal suggesting these ISSUES are of extreme importance.

The compelling date for the DRC, more importantly, is very soon (before June), not in a couple of months, so this is becoming very urgent for them and they seem to be moving quickly, with very good reason.

In President Trumps's first 100 days he suspended the payment of $4M in international AID to the DRC and Rwanda and said he would review this over the next 3 months. Well that time is about now so the USA is also using this as leverage.

If the price being paid to AVZ is going to come from USA financial sources or investment companies there is every reason for the DRC to get a settlement done with AVZ asap. The total investment being discussed with the USA including the Lobito corridor and other Mining projects for copper, cobalt, uranium and many other critical minerals on the USA agenda put the payout to AVZ as being relatively small.

Nigel and Piper lawyers are in the USA so we know their presence in country has significance and meetings/ negotiations we can assume are happening to bring about an amicable resolution.

AVZ SHS would all be hoping a settlement announcement is made very soon or we continue with our Claim before the ICSID.

Thanks for sharing that fantastic post @Goldenboy

I don’t read the crapper and haven’t for years. I want the case to go to the ICSID, I want all the corrupt arseholes to be exposed, held accountable and publicly shamed. We have fought off the corrupt actors involved for three years, finally something is imminent (the ICSID case starting in less than a month) and we are in the strongest position we have been in during all that time.

The US is not just desperate for critical minerals, it’s desperate for Manono, and the DRC is desperate to get US help. The DRC is so desperate, every day they are spinning shit about how they are transparent, cleaning up corruption and a great place to invest. We know they are liars and they are more desperate than us now even in spite of their delusion.

Nigel will do whatever ever he thinks is best, but I personally don’t want to have wasted the last three years defending the company against all the corrupt stooges and posting hundreds of pages and multiple threads of information and then not see it through one last month to the ICSID exposing all the lying, corrupt, embezzling arseholes.

P.S. I don’t believe all the recent bullshit and gag orders by the usual sources. If an offer is made and accepted before the ICSID many shareholders will be happy, but as @Samus has pointed out many times, we’ve heard the same bullshit for three years and I don’t believe a bar of it either

 

[wombat74]

@Goldenboy I cut and pasted your crapper post below

Danny, did you give any thought to the chronology of current and future events in relation to your statement? Why would AVZ walk away and cancel the legal proceedings when the Court hearing is scheduled to kick off in under 4 weeks? AVZ would lose its strategic advantage if it withdrew the legal proceedings before the ICSID without any form of confirmed settlement to our claim.

What would be the catalyst for a buyout/payout to occur when the USA hasn’t signed an Agreement with the DRC and there is no commitment from either party to include AVZ’S CLAIM in the settlement terms. KoBold metals and RIO would not be interested until the USA Administration has a formal legal commitment.

AVZ Lawyers and the ICSID judicial party are about to issue subpoena's on the DRC to ensure they have adequate time to arrange flights to the hearing.

The ICSID Hearing may not be a critical timeline on the agenda of the USA but you can bet it’s a high priority for the DRC.

Why hasn’t the DRC been more proactive in looking for a settlement? The answer is simple, they just don’t understand the context of International Law and don’t get the actions they orchestrated against AVZ were in fact illegal.

I don’t think they even understand the complexity of the organisation that has to happen for delegates from the DRC, Cominiere, Dathomir, Zijin Mining group and the President of the DRC all having to attend the Court Hearing to take the stand and answer questions from AVZ Lawyers to give context to the depth of corruption and fraudulent actions that caused AVZ's Mining Licence to be cancelled. I can see them all lining up one by one and throwing each other under the bus if the Court hearing is to go ahead.

The DRC is about to learn in a big way what is going to happen one way or another and very soon. Any agreement the DRC signs with the USA (before June) will most certainly include, the settlement terms AVZ has submitted under its claim before the ICSID Hearing or should the ICSID Hearing go ahead as scheduled the payment terms from the verdict decided upon from the ICSID including the totality of fines and sanctions that are handed down (2-3 months post hearing).

IMO the USA has already stipulated to the DRC and Rwanda they need to sign a Peace Deal asap before the USA will sign off on any Minerals deal. The Declaration of Principles which they both signed was a significant step they both signed for peace and prosperity in their regions More recently both regions submitted their terms to the USA administration for the Peace deal suggesting these ISSUES are of extreme importance.

The compelling date for the DRC, more importantly, is very soon (before June), not in a couple of months, so this is becoming very urgent for them and they seem to be moving quickly, with very good reason.

In President Trumps's first 100 days he suspended the payment of $4M in international AID to the DRC and Rwanda and said he would review this over the next 3 months. Well that time is about now so the USA is also using this as leverage.

If the price being paid to AVZ is going to come from USA financial sources or investment companies there is every reason for the DRC to get a settlement done with AVZ asap. The total investment being discussed with the USA including the Lobito corridor and other Mining projects for copper, cobalt, uranium and many other critical minerals on the USA agenda put the payout to AVZ as being relatively small.

Nigel and Piper lawyers are in the USA so we know their presence in country has significance and meetings/ negotiations we can assume are happening to bring about an amicable resolution.

AVZ SHS would all be hoping a settlement announcement is made very soon or we continue with our Claim before the ICSID.

Thanks for sharing that fantastic post @Goldenboy

I don’t read the crapper and haven’t for years. I want the case to go to the ICSID, I want all the corrupt arseholes to be exposed, held accountable and publicly shamed. We have fought off the corrupt actors involved for three years, finally something is imminent (the ICSID case starting in less than a month) and we are in the strongest position we have been in during all that time.

The US is not just desperate for critical minerals, it’s desperate for Manono, and the DRC is desperate to get US help. The DRC is so desperate, every day they are spinning shit about how they are transparent, cleaning up corruption and a great place to invest. We know they are liars and they are more desperate than us now even in spite of their delusion.

Nigel will do whatever ever he thinks is best, but I personally don’t want to have wasted the last three years defending the company against all the corrupt stooges and posting hundreds of pages and multiple threads of information and then not see it through one last month to the ICSID exposing all the lying, corrupt, embezzling arseholes.

View attachment 83986

P.S. I don’t believe all the recent bullshit and gag orders by the usual sources. If an offer is made and accepted before the ICSID many shareholders will be happy, but as @Samus has pointed out many times, we’ve heard the same bullshit for three years and I don’t believe a bar of it either

"AVZ Lawyers and the ICSID judicial party are about to issue subpoena's on the DRC to ensure they have adequate time to arrange flights to the hearing."
"I don’t think they even understand the complexity of the organisation that has to happen for delegates from the DRC, Cominiere, Dathomir, Zijin Mining group and the President of the DRC all having to attend the Court Hearing to take the stand and answer questions from AVZ Lawyers."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would say the chances of this happening are less than ZERO , Or , Not a snow flakes chance in hell . Take your pick . IMO

 

[Carlos Danger]

"AVZ Lawyers and the ICSID judicial party are about to issue subpoena's on the DRC to ensure they have adequate time to arrange flights to the hearing."
"I don’t think they even understand the complexity of the organisation that has to happen for delegates from the DRC, Cominiere, Dathomir, Zijin Mining group and the President of the DRC all having to attend the Court Hearing to take the stand and answer questions from AVZ Lawyers."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would say the chances of this happening are less than ZERO , Or , Not a snow flakes chance in hell . Take your pick . IMO

People (including US investors) thought our chances of getting US$20million for litigation funding were “less than ZERO” too Wombat

I’ve given my opinion and I want to get to bed before midnight tonight so I’m signing off. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to gather enough pineapples to….

Well you know what to do with them, it was all your idea back in the day, remember

ICSID doesnt have power to issue subpoenas at the request of the parties, even though under article 43, they should be all fair game because they are 'party to the proceedings, ie part of the DRC government'.

There have been instances, (non-drc examples), where the claimants have received a subpoena in their home country, and ICSID then enforces that, to have the witness attend. But local DRC courts... HMMMMMM.

ICSID can only enforce the production of documents or other evidence as requested between AVZ and DRC. So we could ask them for email correspondence or WeChat logs. But can't ask for X minister and Y minister to appear (we could invite them but that probably won't happen, and Fasken won't open that can of worms).

 

[BEISHA]

@Goldenboy I cut and pasted your crapper post below

Danny, did you give any thought to the chronology of current and future events in relation to your statement? Why would AVZ walk away and cancel the legal proceedings when the Court hearing is scheduled to kick off in under 4 weeks? AVZ would lose its strategic advantage if it withdrew the legal proceedings before the ICSID without any form of confirmed settlement to our claim.

What would be the catalyst for a buyout/payout to occur when the USA hasn’t signed an Agreement with the DRC and there is no commitment from either party to include AVZ’S CLAIM in the settlement terms. KoBold metals and RIO would not be interested until the USA Administration has a formal legal commitment.

AVZ Lawyers and the ICSID judicial party are about to issue subpoena's on the DRC to ensure they have adequate time to arrange flights to the hearing.

The ICSID Hearing may not be a critical timeline on the agenda of the USA but you can bet it’s a high priority for the DRC.

Why hasn’t the DRC been more proactive in looking for a settlement? The answer is simple, they just don’t understand the context of International Law and don’t get the actions they orchestrated against AVZ were in fact illegal.

I don’t think they even understand the complexity of the organisation that has to happen for delegates from the DRC, Cominiere, Dathomir, Zijin Mining group and the President of the DRC all having to attend the Court Hearing to take the stand and answer questions from AVZ Lawyers to give context to the depth of corruption and fraudulent actions that caused AVZ's Mining Licence to be cancelled. I can see them all lining up one by one and throwing each other under the bus if the Court hearing is to go ahead.

The DRC is about to learn in a big way what is going to happen one way or another and very soon. Any agreement the DRC signs with the USA (before June) will most certainly include, the settlement terms AVZ has submitted under its claim before the ICSID Hearing or should the ICSID Hearing go ahead as scheduled the payment terms from the verdict decided upon from the ICSID including the totality of fines and sanctions that are handed down (2-3 months post hearing).

IMO the USA has already stipulated to the DRC and Rwanda they need to sign a Peace Deal asap before the USA will sign off on any Minerals deal. The Declaration of Principles which they both signed was a significant step they both signed for peace and prosperity in their regions More recently both regions submitted their terms to the USA administration for the Peace deal suggesting these ISSUES are of extreme importance.

The compelling date for the DRC, more importantly, is very soon (before June), not in a couple of months, so this is becoming very urgent for them and they seem to be moving quickly, with very good reason.

In President Trumps's first 100 days he suspended the payment of $4M in international AID to the DRC and Rwanda and said he would review this over the next 3 months. Well that time is about now so the USA is also using this as leverage.

If the price being paid to AVZ is going to come from USA financial sources or investment companies there is every reason for the DRC to get a settlement done with AVZ asap. The total investment being discussed with the USA including the Lobito corridor and other Mining projects for copper, cobalt, uranium and many other critical minerals on the USA agenda put the payout to AVZ as being relatively small.

Nigel and Piper lawyers are in the USA so we know their presence in country has significance and meetings/ negotiations we can assume are happening to bring about an amicable resolution.

AVZ SHS would all be hoping a settlement announcement is made very soon or we continue with our Claim before the ICSID.

Thanks for sharing that fantastic post @Goldenboy

I don’t read the crapper and haven’t for years. I want the case to go to the ICSID, I want all the corrupt arseholes to be exposed, held accountable and publicly shamed. We have fought off the corrupt actors involved for three years, finally something is imminent (the ICSID case starting in less than a month) and we are in the strongest position we have been in during all that time.

The US is not just desperate for critical minerals, it’s desperate for Manono, and the DRC is desperate to get US help. The DRC is so desperate, every day they are spinning shit about how they are transparent, cleaning up corruption and a great place to invest. We know they are liars and they are more desperate than us now even in spite of their delusion.

Nigel will do whatever ever he thinks is best, but I personally don’t want to have wasted the last three years defending the company against all the corrupt stooges and posting hundreds of pages and multiple threads of information and then not see it through one last month to the ICSID exposing all the lying, corrupt, embezzling arseholes.

View attachment 83986

P.S. I don’t believe all the recent bullshit and gag orders by the usual sources. If an offer is made and accepted before the ICSID many shareholders will be happy, but as @Samus has pointed out many times, we’ve heard the same bullshit for three years and I don’t believe a bar of it either

 

[Aeolian]

https://x.com/kobold_metals/status/1920168476968128767?s=46&t=6CB4a-o1KP_xg3M93rjQlg

 

[lellep]

https://x.com/kobold_metals/status/1920168476968128767?s=46&t=6CB4a-o1KP_xg3M93rjQlg

View attachment 84008 View attachment 84009

Holy Fuck

 

[JohnJoyce]

Doesn’t look like fake news to me

 

[DiscoDanNZ]

I just saw DEBOSS' tweet of the above and came here hoping for info as I've been in hiding from here for awhile and out of the loop, looks like the news is just as fresh here too. Guess we will hear from AVZ early today?

 

[Jazz]

Via kobold account on linked in

 

[LOCKY82]

As my mother would often say! Holy fuckin shit!!

 

[oxxa23]

No doubt the temp suspension of ICSID will anger a few here.... can only have faith in DLA Piper's advice....

A few articles out already.... the Australian etc

 

[lellep]

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fbusiness%2Fmining-energy%2Faussie-miner-avz-in-sale-agreement-with-gates-bezosbacked-kobold%2Fnews-story%2F42c06445755eedae1ed9e5f44ff39cbb&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=GROUPA-Segment-1-NOSCORE&V21spcbehaviour=append

Paywall

 

[Javman]

Can you post a copy for us not subscribed please?

 

[Yaseen]

give us a figure already

 

[Dazmac66]

Nigel must be on the glass cigar if he is contemplating a delay in the ICSID!

 

[Underwaterdark]

A lot of articles out this morning, but very few with useful info.

Unsure if I like the spin from this mining.com.one...

Gates, Bezos-backed KoBold to buy stake in DRC lithium project

KoBold plans to acquire AVZ’s stake in the Manono lithium project, aiming to resolve disputes and unlock a major source of the critical metal.

www.mining.com

"KoBold’s proposed acquisition includes a framework where AVZ would receive appropriate compensation for relinquishing its claims, allowing KoBold to develop the southern portion of the deposit, while Zijin retains control of the northern section."

 

[LOCKY82]

A lot of articles out this morning, but very few with useful info.

Unsure if I like the spin from this mining.com.one...

Gates, Bezos-backed KoBold to buy stake in DRC lithium project

KoBold plans to acquire AVZ’s stake in the Manono lithium project, aiming to resolve disputes and unlock a major source of the critical metal.

www.mining.com

"KoBold’s proposed acquisition includes a framework where AVZ would receive appropriate compensation for relinquishing its claims, allowing KoBold to develop the southern portion of the deposit, while Zijin retains control of the northern section."

They're only going for dramatic wording, they have no more info than what kobold put out. I'm sure Nigel must have an indication that we will get good value out of this. And fair value is for the lifetime of this mine (not just today's pricing) and also to be paid off not to pursue getting the north back. They have made it sound like mostly a done deal, will be interesting to see if any other players come out of the woodwork! Hope to god we get fair value and we're all in a much better place! sometime in the next six months would be fucking fantastic for me personally
Hope there'll be no funny business from top 20 sh's if votes are required ?

 

[Elmitso]

AUSTRALIAN ARTICLE

Aussie miner AVZ in sale agreement with Gates, Bezos-backed KoBold
Brad Thompson
.


42 minutes ago
Perth-based AVZ Minerals has defied the odds to reach a geopolitically significant deal to sell a giant lithium project in Africa to a US company backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.

The deal between AVZ and KoBold Metals over the Manono project in the Democratic Republic of Congo shapes as the linchpin in a critical mineral pact between the Trump administration and the strife-torn nation.

Both the US government and DRC president Felix Tshisekedi are understood to support the deal between AVZ and KoBold thrashed out in Washington.

The sale price remains unclear but the deal is set to trigger an initial investment of more than $US1bn ($1.55bn) in Manono from KoBold, and is a rebuff to Chinese interests in Africa.

AVZ’s market capitalisation got to $4.6bn in 2022 on high hopes for Manono but fell from grace as it lost control of the massive hard rock deposit that has been likened to the world leading Greenbushes lithium mine in Western Australia.

In a joint statement, AVZ and KoBold said they recognised that “rapid, ethical development of the Manono lithium deposit should play a role in supporting peace and security”.

Their deal was struck against a backdrop of the DRC seeking US protection from Rwanda-backed M23 rebels that have caused havoc and overrun parts of the resources-rich country.

The statement, signed by AVZ chief executive Nigel Ferguson and his KoBold counterpart Kurt House, said they had advanced the peace process by reaching consensus on a commercial framework to enable the rapid development of Manono.

“This framework entails AVZ selling its commercial interest in the Manono lithium deposit to KoBold for fair value,” it said.

“The agreement will enable KoBold to rapidly deploy more than $US1bn to bring the Manono lithium to Western markets.

“The development of Manono will create thousands of high paying Congolese jobs for decades. AVZ enthusiastically endorses KoBold’s approach to investing in local talent.”

AVZ and KoBold said they were working with “all possible speed” to conclude the sale.

“AVZ and KoBold are working cooperatively with all stakeholders, including the US government, the DRC government, and AVZ’s current development partner,” they said.

The Australian understands Mr Tshisekedi has given his blessing to the AVZ-KoBold deal. Mr Tshisekedi is thought to have told US special envoy Massad Boulos and other stakeholders that he’d been looking for a solution to the Manono “problem” for a long time and found it in the AVZ-KoBold agreement.

AVZ scored a partial victory over the DRC and giant Chinese miner Zijin in the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in March.

The company, whose shares were delisted in 2024, maintains the DRC acted illegally by taking over its permit over the whole of Manono and then awarding the northern portion to a Zijin subsidiary in September 2023.

AVZ will propose to the DRC government that they suspend the international arbitration proceedings to facilitate discussions on handing back its licence to clear the way for the KoBold deal.

Sources close to Mr Ferguson said he had been working tirelessly in Washington to secure the best possible deal for AVZ shareholders given there is no guarantee the DRC would adhere to any eventual arbitration ruling in AVZ’s favour. The ICC awarded a $67.5m penalty against DRC-owned mining company Cominière in March because it ignored previous emergency orders in the dispute.

AVZ has asked some of its disgruntled shareholders to show restraint in social media posts on the DRC and its government given the delicate state of negotiations on Manono.

The Australian broke the news of Washington’s unlikely advocacy for AVZ back in March and then flagged the deal with California-based KoBold.

Mr Boulos, the father-in-law of Mr Trump’s daughter Tiffany and his adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, was sent to Kinshasa early last month, to discuss a critical minerals pact with the DRC in return for security.

Manono boasts an 842 million tonne resource at 1.61 per cent lithium oxide and is split into two geographically distinct northern and southern deposits. The southern part alone, sometimes referred to as Roche Dure, holds a 669 million tonne resource.

The US has indicated it is willing to back AVZ retrieving the southern licence to minimise antagonising China with Zijin well advanced in developing the northern deposit.

It is understood both the US and KoBold favour a change of ownership based on AVZ and the DRC discontinuing legal action.

The US also wants any sale by AVZ to not be complicated by links to China’s CATL – the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery manufacturer, which in January provided $20m in funding to AVZ to help the company finance the legal battle for Manono.

Gates and Bezos-backed mining and artificial intelligence start-up KoBold may opt to bring in a partner to help develop Manono.

The project has also caught the eye of Rio Tinto, which has so far refused to comment on any interest.

The Australian has also reported that other her assets on the US radar in the DRC include cobalt and copper deposits controlled by Trafigura-backed Chemaf. Dubai-based Chemaf reportedly failed to gain DRC approval for a sale to an arm of Chinese state-owned defence manufacturer Norinco Group

China already has a significant presence in the DRC, which is rich in copper, cobalt, tin and uranium.

Brad Thompson
Brad Thompson
Mining reporter

 

[Doc]

You’d hope that KoBold have given Nigel a figure he somewhat happy with. I wouldn’t be postponing anything otherwise.