John25
Regular
Yep ,been 7 weeks & not a WORD …be happy with $1.50 about 1300%, be nice …shove it brother …just keep walking
AVZ Discussion 2022
- Thread starter GazDix
- Start date
CashKing
Regular
Last edited:
CashKing
Regular
Ahhh Glencore, nothing like spending a few mill on advertisements during prime time tv to let everyone know your the good guys*Just to add / Remind,
Glencore unit pleads guilty to bribery in Africa
A British subsidiary of Glencore formally pleaded guilty on Tuesday to the seven charges of bribery brought against the mining and commodities trader by the UK Serious Fraud Office, which relate to the firm’s oil operations in Africa.
Glencore Energy confessed to paying $28 million in bribes to secure preferential access to oil, including increased cargoes, valuable grades of oil and preferable dates of delivery in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Sudan.
The company, which also admitted to generating illicit profits between 2011 and 2016, will be sentenced on November 2 and 3,The SFO said.
The successful prosecution is the SFO’s third corporate conviction under the 2010 Bribery Act and makes Glencore the first company to admit to paying off an institution or person under those rules.
The anti-corruption office is still mulling prosecutions against individuals as it, so far, has not targeted any people at the company, triggering criticism.
Glencore has been the subject of multiple investigations in the UK, the United States and Brazil over the past four years for alleged money laundering and corruption.
The company announced in February it had set aside $1.5 billion to cover the costs of settlements it hoped to reach this year.
The Swiss firm in May tackled international bribery charges in the US, pleading guilty to violating the foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Glencore agreed to pay $1.1 billion to resolve the case spanning seven countries.
It also accepted separate fines for manipulating oil prices at US shipping ports.
It further agreed to pay more than $39.5 million under a resolution signed with the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor’s Office in connection with its bribery investigation.
Glencore, which is also subject to investigations from Swiss and Dutch authorities, has said the timing of those probes remains uncertain but would expect any possible resolution to avoid duplicate penalties for the same conduct.
Glencore says its bribery days are over. Now it has to prove it
Glencore has closed the “cash desks” in London and Switzerland that once dispensed money for bribes. Employees implicated in sweeping, cross-border corruption investigations are gone.
New safeguards are in place, and boss Gary Nagle says it’s a “different company.”
Now he will have to prove it.
Glencore this week agreed to plead guilty to a web of bribery and price manipulation charges that stretch from Venezuela to Nigeria and Los Angeles in deals with the US, UK and Brazil.
The penalties will total about $1.5-billion but there’s a longer-lasting requirement — the deal with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) means Glencore will spend the next three years being scrutinized by an independent monitor.
It’s a potentially seminal moment for the company founded by US fugitive Marc Rich, which has powerful trading networks in every corner of the globe and operates a sprawling suite of mines producing some of the most important commodities.
Glencore’s top leadership has been overhauled in the last few years as former CEO Ivan Glasenberg and his lieutenants handed over to a younger generation, although many of the new chiefs are also longtime employees.
Glencore’s guilty pleas also come at a time when its trading business is making money like never before as the company cashes in on soaring prices and market volatility.
Now Nagle, who took the helm last year, is seeking to draw a line under the history of bribery that one US attorney said was “built in to the corporate culture.”
“These investigations identified serious cases of past misconduct in parts of our business. We acknowledge this is unacceptable behavior, and I want to re-emphasize that it has no place in the Glencore of today,” Nagle said Tuesday in a letter to employees seen by Bloomberg News.
“Glencore is a different company today than it was when these unacceptable practices occurred.”
The company started as early as 2016 to phase out the use of intermediaries — the agents and dealmakers once essential to cracking the toughest markets but which can serve as arms-length facilitators for bribery and corruption.
Glencore has also put in place an ethics and compliance program and said it will disclose its marketing sales and purchase agents.
The company said Tuesday that it’s expanded its surveillance of communications and transactions in its oil business and expanded risk assessment.
It also said it was beefing up its third-party monitoring systems across its entire trading business.
However, the DoJ said Tuesday that many of remediation steps remain unproven and untested, necessitating an independent monitor and subjecting Glencore’s business to an unprecedented level of ongoing scrutiny.
The DoJ has used monitors for more than 20 years — they can inspect documents, interview employees and make on-site audits, and report back to both the company and the enforcement agency.
Glencore also did not always demonstrate a commitment to full cooperation during the investigation and “did not timely and appropriately remediate with respect to disciplining certain employees involved in the misconduct,” according to the plea agreement with the DoJ.
In legal documents this week, the DoJ and Commodity Futures Trading Commission describe wide-ranging bribery and corruption that reached to the senior ranks of the company.
Traders would use codes like “newspapers” or “chocolates” to refer to corrupt payments, the documents say.
Some of the corrupt payments were made in cash that was dispensed from Glencore offices — the company maintained a “cash desk” in London until about 2011 and in Baar, Switzerland until about 2016, the DoJ said.
While the most senior leaders during the time covered by the investigations have since retired, many of the new department heads were at the company during the period in which the bribery and corruption was found to have taken place.
It’s also not the first time Glencore has found itself in Washington’s crosshairs — founder Rich was indicted in 1983 in part for trading oil with sanctioned Iran, but received a controversial pardon on former President Bill Clinton’s last day in office in 2001.
In his letter to employees, Nagle said he is personally responsible as CEO for embedding the company’s values and ensuring accountability. Glencore has taken “extensive remediation actions, including through the separation or discipline of employees involved in the wrongdoing,” he said.
Alexandra Gillies, an adviser at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, said that some of the reforms that Glencore had implemented were “very meaningful” but called on Glencore to do even more and for its business partners to hold it accountable.
“Even though Glencore has improved its systems, the corruption risks in commodity trading and in the mineral sector are incredibly high right now,” she said.
“I think for Glencore’s partners to say these challenges were all in the past ignores that context. It is partially their role to make sure corruption is prevented in the future.”
Source: Mining Weekly
View attachment 10373
View attachment 10372
Glencore - Rotten to the Core
Food for thought
Frank
…
LOCKY82
Regular
An article somebody posted on telegram.
Ning Wang, Zijin and Huayou teamed up to perform the battle for the world's largest lithium mine, and jointly squeezed out the Australian listed company!
market information
05.2518:26
focus on
Comparable to Infernal Affairs! Ning Wang, Zijin and Huayou teamed up to perform the battle for the world's largest lithium mine, and jointly squeezed out the Australian listed company!
Source: Market Capitalization
Short sellers believe that this may be a story of CATL, Zijin Mining and Huayou Cobalt working together to squeeze an Australian-listed mining company out of the world’s largest lithium mine project.
Open Sina News
Author | Fusu
Edit | Xiaobai
In recent years, the demand for lithium resources has been strong. After realizing that "there is lithium all over the world", many A-share listed companies have deployed the lithium industry.
Recently, Feng Yunjun read a short report on Australian listed lithium mining companies.
Interestingly, Fengyunjun discovered a "business war" involving three Chinese companies, Ningde Times (300750.SZ), Zijin Mining (601899.SH) and Huayou Cobalt (603799.SH). The movie "Infernal Affairs".
The old irons should listen to the fun.
CATL enters the world's largest lithium mine project
AVZ Mining (AVZ.AX, "AVZ") is an Australian-listed lithium mining company that owns control of the Manono lithium mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Manono Lithium Mine is one of the largest open-pit mineable lithium-rich LCT (lithium, cesium, tantalum) pegmatite deposits in the world, with a total resource of 401 million tons, containing 1.63% lithium oxide.
The local operating entity of the Manono Lithium Mine is “Dathcom Mining” (“Dathcom”), which holds a mining license issued by the DRC government.
AVZ claims to hold 75% of Dathcom and is the controlling shareholder; the remaining 25% is held by Cominiere (“Cominiere”), a state-owned mining company in the DRC.
Open Sina News
On May 11, AVZ voluntarily suspended trading on the Australian Securities Exchange and has not resumed trading so far.
The reason for AVZ's application for the suspension is that there is a lot of market rumors that it is about to lose control of the Manono lithium mine.
The Manono Lithium Mine was initially held as to 70% by Dathomir Mining Resources (“Dathmir”) and 30% by Cominiere.
Open Sina News
In 2016, AVZ purchased a 60% stake from the original controlling shareholder Dathmir to realize control of the Manono lithium mine.
During this period, Dathmir also acquired a 5% stake from Cominiere.
As a result, the shareholding structure of the Manono Lithium Mine becomes: the controlling shareholder AVZ holds 60%, Cominiere holds 25%, and Dathmir holds 15%.
Open Sina News
Later, AVZ said it bought 5% and 10% of Dathmir in July 2019 and August 2021, respectively, bringing the stake to 75%.
Dathmir subsequently withdrew from the project.
Open Sina News
With the increasing shareholding ratio, AVZ believes that it has achieved "solid" control over the Manono lithium mine.
In May this year, AVZ disclosed to Australian investors that it had previously planned to sell a 24% stake in the Manono Lithium Mine to a private Chinese company, "Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies" ("CATH", "Suzhou Tianhua Times"). completed within the month.
(CATH/Suzhou Tianhua Times, source: Qichacha)
For AVZ, this was a great event.
First, the transaction price is very attractive for AVZ.
AVZ sold its 24% stake to Suzhou Tianhua Times for a price of up to US$240 million. Just less than a year ago, AVZ's consideration for acquiring a 10% stake in Dathmir was only $15.5 million, which is a premium rate of 545%!
In addition, AVZ expects to retain control of the Manono lithium mine after the transaction is completed.
Cominiere, another 25% shareholder of Manono Lithium, is planning to withdraw from the project and transfer 10% of its shares to the Congolese government.
According to AVZ's plan, it intends to use the controlling shareholder's "right of first refusal" to buy the remaining 15% from Cominiere.
According to the plan, the future shareholding structure of the Manono Lithium Mine will become: AVZ holds 66%, Suzhou Tianhua Times holds 24%, and the Congo (DRC) government holds 10%.
(AVZ expects changes in shareholding structure)
And one of the shareholders behind the new buyer, Suzhou Tianhua Times, is CATL, a leading manufacturer in the mid- and downstream lithium industry chain.
(Suzhou Tianhua Times’ shareholding structure, source: Qichacha)
Zijin Mining cuts Hu and directly becomes the third largest shareholder
Things didn't turn out as AVZ expected.
On May 9, Zijin Mining issued a press release stating that it owns a 15% stake in the Manono Lithium Mine.
Newly launched Zijin Mining said that in September 2021, its subsidiary had signed an agreement with Cominier to acquire a 15% stake in the Manono Lithium Mine.
This undermines AVZ's "right of first refusal" program.
According to AVZ's plan, before the transaction with Suzhou Tianhua Times, it already held 75% of the equity; after the sale of 24% of the equity, there is still 51% of the equity, which can still be controlled.
Subsequently, AVZ plans to use the "preemptive right" of the controlling shareholder to purchase a 15% stake in Cominiere, increasing its shareholding ratio from 51% to 66%.
However, Zijin Mining said that after AVZ agreed to sell 24% of its shares to Suzhou Tianhua Times, it has lost its controlling shareholder status, so it is not to mention the "right of first refusal".
Why is this?
Zijin Mining stated in a press release that according to the information it obtained, AVZ’s shareholding in Manono Lithium Mine has always been 60%, and its subsequent acquisition of 15% of the shares from Dathmir has been ruled invalid by the court.
According to court documents, a third (5%) of Dathmir's 15% stake sold to AVZ in 2019-2021 was borrowed from Cominiere in 2018, and Dathmir's sale did not require the lender's consent.
The Congolese (DRC) local court recognized the fact that Cominiere lent the equity, and therefore found that Dathmi's sale of 15% of the equity to AVZ was illegal.
That is to say, at the legal level, AVZ has always held only 60% of the equity of the Manono Lithium Mine.
Cominiere will use 15% of its 30% stake (the original 25% plus the 5% returned by Dathcom) to complete the transaction with Zijin Mining, 10% will be transferred to the DRC government, and 5% will be sold to Another buyer "MMCS".
Therefore, the future shareholding structure of Manono Lithium Mine will become:
AVZ holds 36% of the shares and loses control; Suzhou Tianhua Times holds 24% and is the second largest shareholder; Zijin Mining holds 15% and is the third largest shareholder.
Open Sina News
The "trap" set by the joint layout of the three parties?
In the whole thing, the most unfortunate is undoubtedly AVZ, which lost control of the Manono Lithium Mine.
AVZ has still appealed through the court, asking the court to find that Cominiere has no right to sell the 15% stake to Zijin Mining, and request that it has the right to buy this part of the stake.
But the short seller Boatman Capital ("Short Agency") believes that AVZ's chances of winning the lawsuit are slim.
This is also the reason why short-selling institutions have recently shorted AVZ.
The short-seller believes that the court has ruled that its purchase of a 15% stake in Dathmir is invalid as early as the end of 2021. But AVZ has been hiding the lawsuit from investors in Australia while it appealed, insisting it has a 75% controlling stake in the Manono lithium mine.
Until May 9, Zijin Mining's press release exposed the matter.
Speaking of which, the story of the battle for the stake in the Manono lithium mine is not over yet.
It is worth mentioning that AVZ itself has a relatively scattered shareholding structure and has no controlling shareholder. Among them, there are two “powers” of Chinese companies: Suzhou Group, which holds 7.3% of the shares, a joint venture of Suzhou Tianhua Times; and 6.3% of the shares. Huayou Cobalt.
(AVZ shareholding structure)
Among them, Huayou Cobalt became a shareholder of AVZ in 2017, when AVZ had just obtained 60% control of the Manono Lithium Mine.
Since Huayou Cobalt and Suzhou Group together hold nearly 14% of AVZ's shares, if the two are united, they have the ability to exert influence within AVZ.
In fact, Huayou Cobalt and Suzhou Tianhua Times and Ningde Times behind the Suzhou Group have closely cooperated in the layout of overseas lithium resources.
The short-selling agency said that Zeng Yuqun and Huayou Cobalt, the actual controllers of CATL, also jointly invested in a mining company called "Minicom" in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At first glance, there are two parties in the battle for equity in the Manono Lithium Mine: Huayou Cobalt and Ningde Times on the one hand, and Zijin Mining on the other.
Huayou Cobalt and Ningde Times jointly hope to use AVZ's control over the Manono lithium mine to expand their lithium resource layout, including facilitating the sale to Suzhou Tianhua Times. However, Zijin Mining's "spoiler" directly caused AVZ to lose control of the project.
However, short-sellers have another view.
On the surface, it seems that AVZ made two wrong decisions: the non-compliant acquisition of Dathmir and the sale of Suzhou Tianhua Times, which led to the loss of control.
Zijin Mining seems to be a "spoiler", but it may be closely related to AVZ's internal Fang Huayou Cobalt and CATL.
Open Sina News
The short-selling agency mentioned that Fang Qixue, vice chairman of Huayou Cobalt, was the executive director of Zijin Mining.
Coincidentally, AVZ originally announced the sale of its stake to Suzhou Tianhua Times in September last year. In the same month, Zijin Mining negotiated with Cominiere to acquire the equity of Manono Lithium Mine.
Zijin Mining chose to reveal the "mystery" this month, which is also a coincidence, and it happened to be the latest time for AVZ to complete the equity sale transaction.
Short-sellers believe that this may be a story of a Chinese company teaming up to push an Australian-listed mining company out of the world's largest lithium mine project.
Ning Wang, Zijin and Huayou teamed up to perform the battle for the world's largest lithium mine, and jointly squeezed out the Australian listed company!
market information
05.2518:26
focus on
Comparable to Infernal Affairs! Ning Wang, Zijin and Huayou teamed up to perform the battle for the world's largest lithium mine, and jointly squeezed out the Australian listed company!
Source: Market Capitalization
Short sellers believe that this may be a story of CATL, Zijin Mining and Huayou Cobalt working together to squeeze an Australian-listed mining company out of the world’s largest lithium mine project.
Open Sina News
Author | Fusu
Edit | Xiaobai
In recent years, the demand for lithium resources has been strong. After realizing that "there is lithium all over the world", many A-share listed companies have deployed the lithium industry.
Recently, Feng Yunjun read a short report on Australian listed lithium mining companies.
Interestingly, Fengyunjun discovered a "business war" involving three Chinese companies, Ningde Times (300750.SZ), Zijin Mining (601899.SH) and Huayou Cobalt (603799.SH). The movie "Infernal Affairs".
The old irons should listen to the fun.
CATL enters the world's largest lithium mine project
AVZ Mining (AVZ.AX, "AVZ") is an Australian-listed lithium mining company that owns control of the Manono lithium mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Manono Lithium Mine is one of the largest open-pit mineable lithium-rich LCT (lithium, cesium, tantalum) pegmatite deposits in the world, with a total resource of 401 million tons, containing 1.63% lithium oxide.
The local operating entity of the Manono Lithium Mine is “Dathcom Mining” (“Dathcom”), which holds a mining license issued by the DRC government.
AVZ claims to hold 75% of Dathcom and is the controlling shareholder; the remaining 25% is held by Cominiere (“Cominiere”), a state-owned mining company in the DRC.
Open Sina News
On May 11, AVZ voluntarily suspended trading on the Australian Securities Exchange and has not resumed trading so far.
The reason for AVZ's application for the suspension is that there is a lot of market rumors that it is about to lose control of the Manono lithium mine.
The Manono Lithium Mine was initially held as to 70% by Dathomir Mining Resources (“Dathmir”) and 30% by Cominiere.
Open Sina News
In 2016, AVZ purchased a 60% stake from the original controlling shareholder Dathmir to realize control of the Manono lithium mine.
During this period, Dathmir also acquired a 5% stake from Cominiere.
As a result, the shareholding structure of the Manono Lithium Mine becomes: the controlling shareholder AVZ holds 60%, Cominiere holds 25%, and Dathmir holds 15%.
Open Sina News
Later, AVZ said it bought 5% and 10% of Dathmir in July 2019 and August 2021, respectively, bringing the stake to 75%.
Dathmir subsequently withdrew from the project.
Open Sina News
With the increasing shareholding ratio, AVZ believes that it has achieved "solid" control over the Manono lithium mine.
In May this year, AVZ disclosed to Australian investors that it had previously planned to sell a 24% stake in the Manono Lithium Mine to a private Chinese company, "Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies" ("CATH", "Suzhou Tianhua Times"). completed within the month.
(CATH/Suzhou Tianhua Times, source: Qichacha)
For AVZ, this was a great event.
First, the transaction price is very attractive for AVZ.
AVZ sold its 24% stake to Suzhou Tianhua Times for a price of up to US$240 million. Just less than a year ago, AVZ's consideration for acquiring a 10% stake in Dathmir was only $15.5 million, which is a premium rate of 545%!
In addition, AVZ expects to retain control of the Manono lithium mine after the transaction is completed.
Cominiere, another 25% shareholder of Manono Lithium, is planning to withdraw from the project and transfer 10% of its shares to the Congolese government.
According to AVZ's plan, it intends to use the controlling shareholder's "right of first refusal" to buy the remaining 15% from Cominiere.
According to the plan, the future shareholding structure of the Manono Lithium Mine will become: AVZ holds 66%, Suzhou Tianhua Times holds 24%, and the Congo (DRC) government holds 10%.
(AVZ expects changes in shareholding structure)
And one of the shareholders behind the new buyer, Suzhou Tianhua Times, is CATL, a leading manufacturer in the mid- and downstream lithium industry chain.
(Suzhou Tianhua Times’ shareholding structure, source: Qichacha)
Zijin Mining cuts Hu and directly becomes the third largest shareholder
Things didn't turn out as AVZ expected.
On May 9, Zijin Mining issued a press release stating that it owns a 15% stake in the Manono Lithium Mine.
Newly launched Zijin Mining said that in September 2021, its subsidiary had signed an agreement with Cominier to acquire a 15% stake in the Manono Lithium Mine.
This undermines AVZ's "right of first refusal" program.
According to AVZ's plan, before the transaction with Suzhou Tianhua Times, it already held 75% of the equity; after the sale of 24% of the equity, there is still 51% of the equity, which can still be controlled.
Subsequently, AVZ plans to use the "preemptive right" of the controlling shareholder to purchase a 15% stake in Cominiere, increasing its shareholding ratio from 51% to 66%.
However, Zijin Mining said that after AVZ agreed to sell 24% of its shares to Suzhou Tianhua Times, it has lost its controlling shareholder status, so it is not to mention the "right of first refusal".
Why is this?
Zijin Mining stated in a press release that according to the information it obtained, AVZ’s shareholding in Manono Lithium Mine has always been 60%, and its subsequent acquisition of 15% of the shares from Dathmir has been ruled invalid by the court.
According to court documents, a third (5%) of Dathmir's 15% stake sold to AVZ in 2019-2021 was borrowed from Cominiere in 2018, and Dathmir's sale did not require the lender's consent.
The Congolese (DRC) local court recognized the fact that Cominiere lent the equity, and therefore found that Dathmi's sale of 15% of the equity to AVZ was illegal.
That is to say, at the legal level, AVZ has always held only 60% of the equity of the Manono Lithium Mine.
Cominiere will use 15% of its 30% stake (the original 25% plus the 5% returned by Dathcom) to complete the transaction with Zijin Mining, 10% will be transferred to the DRC government, and 5% will be sold to Another buyer "MMCS".
Therefore, the future shareholding structure of Manono Lithium Mine will become:
AVZ holds 36% of the shares and loses control; Suzhou Tianhua Times holds 24% and is the second largest shareholder; Zijin Mining holds 15% and is the third largest shareholder.
Open Sina News
The "trap" set by the joint layout of the three parties?
In the whole thing, the most unfortunate is undoubtedly AVZ, which lost control of the Manono Lithium Mine.
AVZ has still appealed through the court, asking the court to find that Cominiere has no right to sell the 15% stake to Zijin Mining, and request that it has the right to buy this part of the stake.
But the short seller Boatman Capital ("Short Agency") believes that AVZ's chances of winning the lawsuit are slim.
This is also the reason why short-selling institutions have recently shorted AVZ.
The short-seller believes that the court has ruled that its purchase of a 15% stake in Dathmir is invalid as early as the end of 2021. But AVZ has been hiding the lawsuit from investors in Australia while it appealed, insisting it has a 75% controlling stake in the Manono lithium mine.
Until May 9, Zijin Mining's press release exposed the matter.
Speaking of which, the story of the battle for the stake in the Manono lithium mine is not over yet.
It is worth mentioning that AVZ itself has a relatively scattered shareholding structure and has no controlling shareholder. Among them, there are two “powers” of Chinese companies: Suzhou Group, which holds 7.3% of the shares, a joint venture of Suzhou Tianhua Times; and 6.3% of the shares. Huayou Cobalt.
(AVZ shareholding structure)
Among them, Huayou Cobalt became a shareholder of AVZ in 2017, when AVZ had just obtained 60% control of the Manono Lithium Mine.
Since Huayou Cobalt and Suzhou Group together hold nearly 14% of AVZ's shares, if the two are united, they have the ability to exert influence within AVZ.
In fact, Huayou Cobalt and Suzhou Tianhua Times and Ningde Times behind the Suzhou Group have closely cooperated in the layout of overseas lithium resources.
The short-selling agency said that Zeng Yuqun and Huayou Cobalt, the actual controllers of CATL, also jointly invested in a mining company called "Minicom" in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At first glance, there are two parties in the battle for equity in the Manono Lithium Mine: Huayou Cobalt and Ningde Times on the one hand, and Zijin Mining on the other.
Huayou Cobalt and Ningde Times jointly hope to use AVZ's control over the Manono lithium mine to expand their lithium resource layout, including facilitating the sale to Suzhou Tianhua Times. However, Zijin Mining's "spoiler" directly caused AVZ to lose control of the project.
However, short-sellers have another view.
On the surface, it seems that AVZ made two wrong decisions: the non-compliant acquisition of Dathmir and the sale of Suzhou Tianhua Times, which led to the loss of control.
Zijin Mining seems to be a "spoiler", but it may be closely related to AVZ's internal Fang Huayou Cobalt and CATL.
Open Sina News
The short-selling agency mentioned that Fang Qixue, vice chairman of Huayou Cobalt, was the executive director of Zijin Mining.
Coincidentally, AVZ originally announced the sale of its stake to Suzhou Tianhua Times in September last year. In the same month, Zijin Mining negotiated with Cominiere to acquire the equity of Manono Lithium Mine.
Zijin Mining chose to reveal the "mystery" this month, which is also a coincidence, and it happened to be the latest time for AVZ to complete the equity sale transaction.
Short-sellers believe that this may be a story of a Chinese company teaming up to push an Australian-listed mining company out of the world's largest lithium mine project.
obe wan
Regular
And this is why I was eager to see the latest T20…220m AVZ shares held by HUAYOU…just sitting there in the top 20..i wonder If still in T20…there was a hell of a lot of shares passed through on sell; it would have been precision short seller stuff or a bulk sellerAn article somebody posted on telegram.
Ning Wang, Zijin and Huayou teamed up to perform the battle for the world's largest lithium mine, and jointly squeezed out the Australian listed company!
market information
05.2518:26
focus on
Comparable to Infernal Affairs! Ning Wang, Zijin and Huayou teamed up to perform the battle for the world's largest lithium mine, and jointly squeezed out the Australian listed company!
Source: Market Capitalization
Short sellers believe that this may be a story of CATL, Zijin Mining and Huayou Cobalt working together to squeeze an Australian-listed mining company out of the world’s largest lithium mine project.
Open Sina News
Author | Fusu
Edit | Xiaobai
In recent years, the demand for lithium resources has been strong. After realizing that "there is lithium all over the world", many A-share listed companies have deployed the lithium industry.
Recently, Feng Yunjun read a short report on Australian listed lithium mining companies.
Interestingly, Fengyunjun discovered a "business war" involving three Chinese companies, Ningde Times (300750.SZ), Zijin Mining (601899.SH) and Huayou Cobalt (603799.SH). The movie "Infernal Affairs".
The old irons should listen to the fun.
CATL enters the world's largest lithium mine project
AVZ Mining (AVZ.AX, "AVZ") is an Australian-listed lithium mining company that owns control of the Manono lithium mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Manono Lithium Mine is one of the largest open-pit mineable lithium-rich LCT (lithium, cesium, tantalum) pegmatite deposits in the world, with a total resource of 401 million tons, containing 1.63% lithium oxide.
The local operating entity of the Manono Lithium Mine is “Dathcom Mining” (“Dathcom”), which holds a mining license issued by the DRC government.
AVZ claims to hold 75% of Dathcom and is the controlling shareholder; the remaining 25% is held by Cominiere (“Cominiere”), a state-owned mining company in the DRC.
Open Sina News
On May 11, AVZ voluntarily suspended trading on the Australian Securities Exchange and has not resumed trading so far.
The reason for AVZ's application for the suspension is that there is a lot of market rumors that it is about to lose control of the Manono lithium mine.
The Manono Lithium Mine was initially held as to 70% by Dathomir Mining Resources (“Dathmir”) and 30% by Cominiere.
Open Sina News
In 2016, AVZ purchased a 60% stake from the original controlling shareholder Dathmir to realize control of the Manono lithium mine.
During this period, Dathmir also acquired a 5% stake from Cominiere.
As a result, the shareholding structure of the Manono Lithium Mine becomes: the controlling shareholder AVZ holds 60%, Cominiere holds 25%, and Dathmir holds 15%.
Open Sina News
Later, AVZ said it bought 5% and 10% of Dathmir in July 2019 and August 2021, respectively, bringing the stake to 75%.
Dathmir subsequently withdrew from the project.
Open Sina News
With the increasing shareholding ratio, AVZ believes that it has achieved "solid" control over the Manono lithium mine.
In May this year, AVZ disclosed to Australian investors that it had previously planned to sell a 24% stake in the Manono Lithium Mine to a private Chinese company, "Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies" ("CATH", "Suzhou Tianhua Times"). completed within the month.
(CATH/Suzhou Tianhua Times, source: Qichacha)
For AVZ, this was a great event.
First, the transaction price is very attractive for AVZ.
AVZ sold its 24% stake to Suzhou Tianhua Times for a price of up to US$240 million. Just less than a year ago, AVZ's consideration for acquiring a 10% stake in Dathmir was only $15.5 million, which is a premium rate of 545%!
In addition, AVZ expects to retain control of the Manono lithium mine after the transaction is completed.
Cominiere, another 25% shareholder of Manono Lithium, is planning to withdraw from the project and transfer 10% of its shares to the Congolese government.
According to AVZ's plan, it intends to use the controlling shareholder's "right of first refusal" to buy the remaining 15% from Cominiere.
According to the plan, the future shareholding structure of the Manono Lithium Mine will become: AVZ holds 66%, Suzhou Tianhua Times holds 24%, and the Congo (DRC) government holds 10%.
(AVZ expects changes in shareholding structure)
And one of the shareholders behind the new buyer, Suzhou Tianhua Times, is CATL, a leading manufacturer in the mid- and downstream lithium industry chain.
(Suzhou Tianhua Times’ shareholding structure, source: Qichacha)
Zijin Mining cuts Hu and directly becomes the third largest shareholder
Things didn't turn out as AVZ expected.
On May 9, Zijin Mining issued a press release stating that it owns a 15% stake in the Manono Lithium Mine.
Newly launched Zijin Mining said that in September 2021, its subsidiary had signed an agreement with Cominier to acquire a 15% stake in the Manono Lithium Mine.
This undermines AVZ's "right of first refusal" program.
According to AVZ's plan, before the transaction with Suzhou Tianhua Times, it already held 75% of the equity; after the sale of 24% of the equity, there is still 51% of the equity, which can still be controlled.
Subsequently, AVZ plans to use the "preemptive right" of the controlling shareholder to purchase a 15% stake in Cominiere, increasing its shareholding ratio from 51% to 66%.
However, Zijin Mining said that after AVZ agreed to sell 24% of its shares to Suzhou Tianhua Times, it has lost its controlling shareholder status, so it is not to mention the "right of first refusal".
Why is this?
Zijin Mining stated in a press release that according to the information it obtained, AVZ’s shareholding in Manono Lithium Mine has always been 60%, and its subsequent acquisition of 15% of the shares from Dathmir has been ruled invalid by the court.
According to court documents, a third (5%) of Dathmir's 15% stake sold to AVZ in 2019-2021 was borrowed from Cominiere in 2018, and Dathmir's sale did not require the lender's consent.
The Congolese (DRC) local court recognized the fact that Cominiere lent the equity, and therefore found that Dathmi's sale of 15% of the equity to AVZ was illegal.
That is to say, at the legal level, AVZ has always held only 60% of the equity of the Manono Lithium Mine.
Cominiere will use 15% of its 30% stake (the original 25% plus the 5% returned by Dathcom) to complete the transaction with Zijin Mining, 10% will be transferred to the DRC government, and 5% will be sold to Another buyer "MMCS".
Therefore, the future shareholding structure of Manono Lithium Mine will become:
AVZ holds 36% of the shares and loses control; Suzhou Tianhua Times holds 24% and is the second largest shareholder; Zijin Mining holds 15% and is the third largest shareholder.
Open Sina News
The "trap" set by the joint layout of the three parties?
In the whole thing, the most unfortunate is undoubtedly AVZ, which lost control of the Manono Lithium Mine.
AVZ has still appealed through the court, asking the court to find that Cominiere has no right to sell the 15% stake to Zijin Mining, and request that it has the right to buy this part of the stake.
But the short seller Boatman Capital ("Short Agency") believes that AVZ's chances of winning the lawsuit are slim.
This is also the reason why short-selling institutions have recently shorted AVZ.
The short-seller believes that the court has ruled that its purchase of a 15% stake in Dathmir is invalid as early as the end of 2021. But AVZ has been hiding the lawsuit from investors in Australia while it appealed, insisting it has a 75% controlling stake in the Manono lithium mine.
Until May 9, Zijin Mining's press release exposed the matter.
Speaking of which, the story of the battle for the stake in the Manono lithium mine is not over yet.
It is worth mentioning that AVZ itself has a relatively scattered shareholding structure and has no controlling shareholder. Among them, there are two “powers” of Chinese companies: Suzhou Group, which holds 7.3% of the shares, a joint venture of Suzhou Tianhua Times; and 6.3% of the shares. Huayou Cobalt.
(AVZ shareholding structure)
Among them, Huayou Cobalt became a shareholder of AVZ in 2017, when AVZ had just obtained 60% control of the Manono Lithium Mine.
Since Huayou Cobalt and Suzhou Group together hold nearly 14% of AVZ's shares, if the two are united, they have the ability to exert influence within AVZ.
In fact, Huayou Cobalt and Suzhou Tianhua Times and Ningde Times behind the Suzhou Group have closely cooperated in the layout of overseas lithium resources.
The short-selling agency said that Zeng Yuqun and Huayou Cobalt, the actual controllers of CATL, also jointly invested in a mining company called "Minicom" in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At first glance, there are two parties in the battle for equity in the Manono Lithium Mine: Huayou Cobalt and Ningde Times on the one hand, and Zijin Mining on the other.
Huayou Cobalt and Ningde Times jointly hope to use AVZ's control over the Manono lithium mine to expand their lithium resource layout, including facilitating the sale to Suzhou Tianhua Times. However, Zijin Mining's "spoiler" directly caused AVZ to lose control of the project.
However, short-sellers have another view.
On the surface, it seems that AVZ made two wrong decisions: the non-compliant acquisition of Dathmir and the sale of Suzhou Tianhua Times, which led to the loss of control.
Zijin Mining seems to be a "spoiler", but it may be closely related to AVZ's internal Fang Huayou Cobalt and CATL.
Open Sina News
The short-selling agency mentioned that Fang Qixue, vice chairman of Huayou Cobalt, was the executive director of Zijin Mining.
Coincidentally, AVZ originally announced the sale of its stake to Suzhou Tianhua Times in September last year. In the same month, Zijin Mining negotiated with Cominiere to acquire the equity of Manono Lithium Mine.
Zijin Mining chose to reveal the "mystery" this month, which is also a coincidence, and it happened to be the latest time for AVZ to complete the equity sale transaction.
Short-sellers believe that this may be a story of a Chinese company teaming up to push an Australian-listed mining company out of the world's largest lithium mine project.
Bin59
Regular
And this is why I was eager to see the latest T20…220m AVZ shares held by HUAYOU…just sitting there in the top 20..i wonder If still in T20…there was a hell of a lot of shares passed through on sell; it would have been precision short seller stuff or a bulk seller
Any AVZ shareholder can walk into the registry office in Perth and look at the AVZ T20 - anyone live in Perth?
obe wan
Regular
Id high doubt RD is an issue at all, as they have positioned the current 13359 up to that very last bore collar, so that will switch over to exploitation license, that's a given I would think. The rest of 13359, they are probably working that out which would probably mean that surface rights for 13359 is still a bit of a fat finger shifting number calculator
obe wan
Regular
That article look s to be more of an exposing article to be honest of potential games of who is who in the zoo; could equally be some cannibalisms flavours in there
That article suspects Zijin and Huayou being in the snake pit...wouldn't surprise me on bit to be honest. Huayou lying in wait for some time in my opinion. CAT.....well they did say that they were unconditional and would pay up on XYZ date...they haven't , so they may also have a place in the snake-pit. All Chinese , what do you expect i suppose, but CAT would want to be looking pretty clean, scent of their involvement .... well , they haven't signed ... ideally giving them the bird and AVZ moving off and tying a deal with someone else would be a shot to the heart
I'm with @wombat74 and have had the same opinion for quite a while and that is that once this thing gets ML, then the claws are going to be out; turbulent and weathering waters ; SP smashed from euphoric levels, cockroaches spilling out of the jar from all angles; Ferguson has to be well over dealing with Chinese and DRC bullshite by now. shareholders battered and bruised.... there will be an AVZ percentage of project offer IMO no matter how this thing spills out on the floor after it starts to trade again; the project is just too important, some body shots in an attempt to tenderize it up front and see how it fairs up..then see how much it takes to push the weary AVZ train of its rails; no doubt they'll be paying alot higher than current MC valve , but probably a fair bit less than if it was left to continue to run north from where we were at $1.20/1.30
Thanks for the reply . Personally I've mostly looked at this project as being Roche Dure alone . Those numbers had me hello. In love at first sight. Carriere de l’Este for me is the icing on top the cake that is already 10 inches thick with icing . Yep will be amazing if we can lock it in but it ain't the end of the world. I will still be very happy if it's just the 401 Mt @ 1.65% Li2O (spodumene) ▪ Reserves 132 Mt @ 1.63% Li2O (Reserve LoM 29.5 years2 ) ▪ Homogenous in grade with mountains of upside . $1.50 - $2 see ya later . Next
Sammy_da_Smile
Regular
Interesting video.
Doesn't really say too much, more about that recent investigative journo. Thought the statement about the millions of dollars the company had (guessing chinese) and the jounros need to back them cause of their money, is worrying. If I understood that correctly.
Doesn't really say too much, more about that recent investigative journo. Thought the statement about the millions of dollars the company had (guessing chinese) and the jounros need to back them cause of their money, is worrying. If I understood that correctly.
obe wan
Regular
This guy (Mice tshibangu) is a journalist trying to create a story off a hot topic who would probably get 2/10 on mining code 2002 Q&A quiz
MoneyBags1348
Top 20
The good thing about this article is that it shows just about all the bullshit about the current ownership situation and that gives everyone a chance to analyse and strategies our position. It seems like another boatman style attack before the suspension date is due and hopefully someone will send this article off to Nigel asap. Obe, I think CATH have put $20 million into an account already, and whoever breaks the TIA (AVZ or CATH) has to pay $20mil in compensation (and to be open, that’s probably fuck all for CATH). Even though I alluded to it in the past, I didn’t want to openly say it (just in case of legal implications) but it was Nigel that told me at the Sydney presentation that the Chinese were trying to screw us. Nigel may not have known CATH was sly, but has long been aware of the Chinese tactics and has said all along that we have been in discussions with Felix and Felix was supporting us, and Felix has been bragging for months about AVZ developing Manono and being on the Battery Council so in spite of the dirty Chinese tactics and lack of open commentary by Felix these (along with having good lawyers) are all positives. If worse came to worse regarding ownership, it’s worth remembering that the Chinese would have to commit more to financing than us, would increase output to 10mtpa and would build the infrastructure in half the time. AVZ is still looking okay as far as I can see, there was the recent ruling that Zigin’s ownership attempt was illegal and this latest article is another short style attack by unscrupulous paid stooge’s. Even though I believe the article is bullshit, I like reading about all the behind the scenes wangling and possibilities as it assists in forming strategies and responses
MoneyBags1348
Top 20
I am a new poster on this forum and obviously got on the wrong foot with a few here, remember I still bear a grudge against the arseholes on the crapper who put shit on me (even though being suspended from the crapper was the best thing that happened to me!!). But I have to get on with my other things and just wanted to say these last two things 1) The article on telegram may be the case Zigin, Dathomir etc are trying to put forward, but it doesn’t mean any of it is legal or fact, and 2) Be emotionally prepared if we stay in suspension for another month and try and have faith that right will win over wrong!!!!
LOCKY82
Regular
100% agree with you here, I have prepared myself for these monthly extensions to be a theme for the meantime while management try and navigate what looks like an attempt to weasel this project away on the cheap. I do think pressure should be kept on management from shareholders via email (not Twitter or phone calls!) To ensure they can an will update us shareholders wherever possible. IMO
Good luck to us all.
cruiser51
Top 20
AVZ made following ASX announcement on 01/06/2022:
Extension of End Date to the Transaction Implementation Agreement
AVZ Minerals Limited (ASX: AVZ, OTCQX: AZZVF) (“AVZ” or “Company”) refers to the Transaction Implementation Agreement (“TIA”) with Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies (“CATH”) as detailed in the Company’s ASX Announcements dated 27 September 2021 “Cornerstone investor secured for development of Manono Lithium and Tin Project” and 16 February 2022 “Expedited completion of US$240M cornerstone investment with CATH”.
The Company confirms that the parties to the TIA have agreed to amend the end date to 31 July 2022 to provide for completion of closure formalities.
The parties are committed to close the TIA as early as practically possible to progress the development of the Manono Lithium and Tin Project.
This announcement was authorised for release by Nigel Ferguson, Managing Director of AVZ Minerals Limited.
In other words, regardless of what has been written, the 24% of Dathcom has not been transferred to anybody and AVZ is still the majority holder as of today.
Which effectively means that the article that Cominiere could sell 15% of Dathcomn to Zijin, because AVZ is not the majority holder of Dathcom, regardless of the shimozzle about the Dathomir 15%, is simply put a lot of cock.
AVZ still has the option to tell CATH and friends to take a hike. Capital raise the $240 million and develop Manono without CATH.
Extension of End Date to the Transaction Implementation Agreement
AVZ Minerals Limited (ASX: AVZ, OTCQX: AZZVF) (“AVZ” or “Company”) refers to the Transaction Implementation Agreement (“TIA”) with Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies (“CATH”) as detailed in the Company’s ASX Announcements dated 27 September 2021 “Cornerstone investor secured for development of Manono Lithium and Tin Project” and 16 February 2022 “Expedited completion of US$240M cornerstone investment with CATH”.
The Company confirms that the parties to the TIA have agreed to amend the end date to 31 July 2022 to provide for completion of closure formalities.
The parties are committed to close the TIA as early as practically possible to progress the development of the Manono Lithium and Tin Project.
This announcement was authorised for release by Nigel Ferguson, Managing Director of AVZ Minerals Limited.
In other words, regardless of what has been written, the 24% of Dathcom has not been transferred to anybody and AVZ is still the majority holder as of today.
Which effectively means that the article that Cominiere could sell 15% of Dathcomn to Zijin, because AVZ is not the majority holder of Dathcom, regardless of the shimozzle about the Dathomir 15%, is simply put a lot of cock.
AVZ still has the option to tell CATH and friends to take a hike. Capital raise the $240 million and develop Manono without CATH.
Samus
Top 20
Just remember the good thing about this new forum is that it is for genuine holders only and so far the discussions have been respectful despite differing opinions.
This isn't the Crapper and there is no reason to come in guns blazing and start putting anybody down. We can agree to disagree here in a respectful manner and there is no reason to be uptight.
Leave the crap on the Crapper, the only people who've been booted from here (via community consensus) are trolls and one guy who showed complete asshole levels of disrespect towards other posters.
Welcome @MoneyBags1348 I for one remember your post on the Crapper before suspension which I though contained some very valid points despite the usual suspects shooting it down. I think your notes have proven that you have a finger on the pulse more than many shareholders.
Take a breath and relax, soak up the better vibes and thanks for the contributions.
Just hope that one of those Chinese companies that already sits in AVZ's top 20 doesn't buy all $240 million worth of new shares and increase their influence over AVZ right!
Edit - I know I know.....not how capital raises work, but 600 shell companies later and shady intent and who knows what could happen
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