JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum mining company Implats has won a $16-million claim for constructive fraudulent transfer during the insolvency in the US of a former recycler of autocatalyst materials, which had a long-standing association with Impala Refining Services (IRS).

Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Implats said on Tuesday that an Eastern District of Pennsylvania jury had rendered a verdict in its favour in the case involving the collection of $200-million-plus from A-1 Specialized Services and Equipment Company Inc, which until a few years ago had supplied platinum scrap to IRS on a regular basis.

As reported earlier by Mining Weekly Online, A-1 went into default after the global economic crash of 2008, leaving its refining contract with Implats to lapse.

The defendants in the case include the four A-1 shareholders, three of whom settled with Impala during the trial, prior to the verdict.

Earlier in the case, Implats successfully sought to wind down A-1’s business and to liquidate its assets, from which it expects to receive additional recovery.

Describing the legal process as “challenging and lengthy”, Implats said it was pleased to recover some of the money, which is alleged to have been unlawfully transferred out of A-1, ahead of the claims lodged by Implats.

“We feel vindicated by the outcome of the legal process,” Implats CFO Brenda Berlin said in a release to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online.

Implats reported in May last year that a London Court of International Arbitration had issued a final award in Implats’ favour for the full amount claimed and that it would pursue all legal avenues available to it to collect the amount due.

Berlin outlined to Mining Weekly Online at the time that Implats took an initial impairment of R212-million against amounts owed and later impaired the full R1.2-billion remaining carrying value in the accounts after a default on agreed payment terms.

At the time, A-1 described itself on its website as a global leader in the recycling of platinum-group metals from salvaged catalytic converters, and an active marketer of platinum, palladium and rhodium to meet consumer needs.

Implats has five main operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe and produces approximately a quarter of the world's supply of primary platinum.