JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE- and TSX-listed Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) and China-based precious metals mining services provider Hebei Zhonghen Tianda Platinum (HZT) have reached a settlement agreement over the disputed 2016 Crocodile River Mine (CRM) share purchase agreement.
The settlement terminates the share purchase agreement, dismisses the litigation initiated by HZT and removes any further obligations for both parties.
In addition, the agreement releases the relevant break-free escrow funds, less a $420 000 payment by Eastplats to HZT.
“I am pleased to settle this litigation, confirming our ongoing ownership of CRM, refunding over $4.5-million of our escrow funds and allowing Eastplats to further focus on our development and project work,” Eastplats CEO Diana Hu said on Friday.
This followed the August notice from HZT to terminate, on the basis of breach or default, the share purchase agreement for Eastplats’ South Africa subsidiary Barplats Mines, as the Chinese firm sought to break free from the escrow and break-fee funds being held by an independent escrow agent.
The June 2016 share purchase agreement has been an area of contention for more than a year, after Eastplats, following the election of a new board in July 2016, had reviewed several agreements and transactions entered into by the former board of directors, including the proposed sale of Barplats Mines, which holds CRM, to HZT for $50-million.
HZT had sought to enforce the share purchase agreement through litigation.
Barplats’ shareholders in February rejected the deal.