Avima Iron Ore 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.
Avima, which said it had been scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2021, said in a statement it had issued a letter on Tuesday to Congo's president, prime minister and mines minister demanding reinstatement of its licence within 30 days or indemnification of a loss it estimated at $27-billion.
The Nevis-registered company said the stripping of its licence "seems to have been carried out for the personal benefit of certain Congolese officials and complicit third parties", without naming them, and threatened arbitration and other legal proceedings.
"The Congo government's actions are obvious, blatant and clearly illegal," said Avima representative Socrates Vasiliades.
The company said it is being advised by the law firm Clifford Chance, which is also representing Sundance.
Urbain Fiacre Opo, a senior official at the mines ministry, declined to comment.
Congo shipped its first iron-ore exports in 2019 from a mine owned by Congolese billionaire Paul Obambi’s Sapro.
Glencore is in a joint venture in Congo to develop the Zanaga mine.