First steps get in charge of 13359 and acquire the ML.I like this bit : "AVZ and CATH have agreed to work collaboratively to constructively engage with the DRC Government to secure and accelerate the development of the Manono Project."
Looks to me like we have found a way to satisfy a possible negotiated outcome . Zijin/CCP get their slice , The DRC Gov avoid the ICSID and AVZ get out of this f--king Mess .
Keep ICC and ICSID arbitration cases going until the above achieved, signed and sealed in fucking blood.
To progress the arbitration cases, funding was required by end of month, early February.
The move of using GLH is to keep the Australian Government out of the picture because GLH is a Singaporean entity.
The Australian Government interests are to protect Australian mining.
To expect them to lift one finger to get Manono up and going was never going to happen.
Is it a good deal?
Locke funding was made as an interim, but I believe this deal to be better.
Locke held all the cards and could screw us completely over.
They aren't silly and had put a huge price on the risk they were prepared to take.
I would have been also very careful to go into sea with them.
I had in the back of my mind, this looks like a fucking Cash Converters type of deal, but it was needed at the time.
On the surface the deal with Cath seems to be much more advantageous, because it gives funding to continue with the arbitration cases and guarantees funding to build the mine.
A requirement for the ML.
Soooo
It looks like Zijin's so called announcement to start mining early 2026 seems to be a tactical move in this chess game.
They found out the Cath deal was about to happen.
It is in my eyes the exact reason that AVZ has to continue to keep its cards very close to its chest.