[miningmx.com] — AQUARIUS Platinum, the world’s fourth-largest platinum producer, on Thursday said it has agreed to pay Moolman Mining, a division of Grinaker LTA, R86.8m as a full and final settlement in a four-year long legal battle.
The company said that the arbitration and litigation, which Aquarius Platinum instituted against Moolman Mining and the counter-claims made by Moolman Mining
against Aquarius Platinum South Africa (AQPSA) in 2006, had been finally settled by
agreement between the parties.
The dispute centred on AQPSA’s decision to rescind its open-cast mining contract
with Moolman Mining at Marikana in December 2005.
The contract was rescinded on the basis of an alleged misrepresentation by
Moolman Mining in respect of the foreign exchange component of the contract.
The company then took steps to mitigate its original damages, which were at that
point of about R1bn. These steps reduced the amount of its original damages claim to a negligible amount and AQPSA consequently withdrew its claim for these damages while retaining its claim for the rescission of its contract with Moolman
Mining.
Moolman Mining filed four counter-claims against AQPSA, together totalling R486.3m, plus interest on all these counterclaims calculated at 15.5% per annum
from December 2005 until the date of final payment.
AQPSA opposed all the counter-claims on the basis that none of them were payable
to Moolman Mining and in any event if the court upheld the rescission claim on the
basis of the misrepresentation by Moolman Mining, all the counterclaims would be
defeated.
In June 2010, Moolman Mining withdrew the damages claim.
The settlement amount, therefore, represents a payment for work actually done by
Moolman Mining that was not paid for by AQPSA, plus interest since December 2005
and certain legal costs.
