By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
DAKAR (Reuters) - Avima Iron Ore Limited said on Thursday it had written to Congo Republic’s government to demand it either reinstate the company’s production licence that was stripped last November or pay damages of $27 billion.
Avima’s iron ore licence was one of three that Congo’s government revoked late last year and handed to a little-known company backed by Chinese investment called Sangha Mining Development Sasu.
The government said the companies had failed to meet their obligations to develop their concessions. The companies deny this.
One of them, Australia’s Sundance Resources, announced in December it had initiated an arbitration process seeking $8.76 million in damages. Sundance said last week it had delayed arbitration by 30 days to allow discussions with Congo to progress.