PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Equatorial Resources has launched a $1.1-billion compensation claim against the Republic of Congo, claiming that the government of that country had taken unlawful measures against the company.
Equatorial previously referred its investment dispute with Congo to arbitration at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), in the US, claiming that unlawful measures had been taken against its Mauritanian subsidiary EEPL at two of its investment projects in Congo.
The company claims that its actions at its Badondo iron-ore project in 2020 included expropriation as part of a wider campaign by the government to dispossess foreign mining companies of their iron-ore interest in Congo in favour of granting them to a Chinese-linked company.
Equatorial also claimed that measures taken at its Mayoko-Moussondji project in 2021, saw the Congolese government unlawfully revoke the exploitation permit held over the tenements.
Equatorial said in a statement on Thursday that measures by the Congolese government violated multiple provisions in the Congo-Mauritius bilateral investment treaty, including the prohibition against unlawful expropriation and the fair and equitable treatment standard.
The Congolese government has until August to respond to the claims.
Equatorial has meanwhile told shareholders that the company is evaluating the merits of a litigation funding agreement, which would provide the company with non-recourse funding to cover the legal fees and other costs of the arbitration against Congo.