Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Axiom is facing another legal battle in its efforts to start mining at a nickel discovery in the Solomon Islands.
A week after winning a three-year court battle against Japanese giant Sumitomo Metal Mining allowing Axiom to start the development at the project area, the company reported on Wednesday that it had been served with an application seeking an interim injunction to restrain it from undertaking activities at the mine site, which spans the islands of San Jorge and Santa Isabel.
Sumitomo said last week that it would appeal the judgment and that it wanted the ‘status quo’ to remain pending the determination of the appeal.
“While this new interim injunction temporarily halts the exploration activities in Isabel Island, we are confident of resolving this matter when we are fully represented by our legal council next week in Solomon Islands,” said Axiom CEO Ryan Mount.
Mount questioned why the application was brought on with such little notice and referred to the recent High Court ruling which stated that Sumitomo’s legal action was an "abuse of court proceedings".
“The ruling also highlighted that Sumitomo’s undertaking as to damages was still in existence. So, we will apply that to their latest actions in our future claim for damages, in the event we have the matter overturned," Mount said.