AVZ reacts to two decrees from the DRC Ministry of Mines which notably revoke the Manono license

The Manono lithium project is becoming like a Novellas television series, every day we are witnessing a new enigma, which in reality only delays the start of lithium exploitation in the province of Tanganyika in Manono by the Australian company, AVZ Minerals which owns 75% of the shares of Dathcom. Dathcom being a Joint-Venture between the Congolese State represented by COMINIERE which should hold 25% of the shares, of which 15% were illegally sold (according to the IGF which is the General Inspectorate of Finance of the DR Congo) to the Chinese of ZIJIN through the Dathomir company of the Chinese citizen, Simon Cong and 5% in MMCS a company registered in Mauritius.

On December 6, 2022, COMINIERE had asked the Ministry of Mines of the DR Congo to postpone the judgments on the partial waiver of PR13359, something which should block the procedure for transforming the PE13359 exploration permit into a PR13359 operating permit for Dathcom.

• COMINIERE had considered that the transaction of 60% of the Dathomir shares of the Chinese Simon Cong to the Australians of AVZ Minerals, had not respected the agreements of the joint venture; “The terms of the transaction for the sale of 60% of the shares of DATHOMIR and AVZ Minerals were never communicated to COMINIERE so that it could exercise its right of pre-emption. This is why COMINIERE is right to question this transaction before the Authority, even up to international arbitration. “ Said COMINIERE’s lawyer.
• In addition, COMINIERE accused AVZ Minerals of having put forward incorrect figures in the feasibility study presented to the Ministry of Mines on behalf of Dathcom; “Overbilling at the level of construction services, the acquisition price of factories for metallurgical treatment as presented in the feasibility study are more than ten times higher than the actual price. »
• COMINIERE claimed in particular 100% ownership of the Mpiana Mwanga hydroelectric power station, of which AVZ Minerals, through an agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, should be part of the Manono project; “Spoliate the heritage of the State, by declaring that thanks to a law firm, AVZ was able to recover the hydroelectric power station of Mpiana Mwanga. However, COMINIERE owns 100% of the plant. »
• Over-invoicing on the part of AVZ Minerals for certain projects, AVZ declared having already spent 70 million $US in the Manono project, COMINIERE speaks of only 2 million $US. Violation of sub-contracts and other accusations which had prompted COMINIERE to seize the Minister of Mines.

Now in a tweet from the ACAJ ASBL (Congolese Association for Access to Justice), we discover that on January 28, 2023 the Ministry of Mines of the DR Congo had signed two judgments on the granting of the exploitation permit PE13359:

“ACAJ congratulates the Minister of Mines for having signed decrees nos. 00031 and 00032 dated 28/01/23 reporting decrees nos. 00147 and 00080 respectively granting operating permit no. 133359 to DATHCOM Mining SA and taking note of its partial renunciation of exploration permit no. 13359. It is a courageous decision that allows the state-owned company COMINIERE SA to recover all of its rights to the Manono lithium concession. ACAJ reiterates to the Government its request for a review of the DATHCOM contract. » Signed by Kapiamba Georges, representing ACAJ.

ACAJ declares to support COMINIERE SA in this action against AVZ Minerals, claiming that AVZ has never communicated within 90 days, all the documents relating to the financing of the DATHCOM SA project raised on the stock market, according to letter n ° CEM / DG /139/ckk/22 of 7.12.22 from COMINIERE.

Note that for the moment we have no official press release from the ministry on the decrees, through me our Kongopress editorial team has written to the ministry for more details on the decrees. Here is the response received:

“Hello Kiki Kienge, We have received your message. We will recontact you as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. » Ministry of Mines DR Congo.

These decrees from the Ministry of Mines of the DR Congo, would call into question the shares of AVZ Minerals in Dathcom, something which risks further prolonging the start of exploitation of lithium in Manono in other legal proceedings.

Now the Australian company, AVZ Minerals has just reacted in a press release today, February 6, 2023, which would confirm the existence of the decrees of the Ministry of Mines despite the absence of an official announcement:

“AVZ Minerals Limited (ASX: AVZ, OTC: AZZVF) (AVZ company) refers to its announcement of May 4, 2022 confirming the ministerial decree of the Minister of Mines (MdM) of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to award the mining license for the Manono lithium and tin project (Manono project) to Dathcom Mining SA (Dathcom).

As the company indicated at the time of this announcement, the ministerial decree excluded a northern part of PR13359 covering approximately one-third of the entire permit, which under the DRC Mining Law would be renewed. in the form of a new 5-year Research Permit (PR) to Dathcom.

Subsequently, the company had protracted discussions with the relevant authorities in the DRC over a range of mining-related issues, which led the Cadastre Minier (CAMI) to delay the issuance of the charges surface fees to Dathcom, preventing the completion of the process of converting the research license into a mining license.

The company has now received notices that the DRC Ministry of Mines has issued two additional Ministerial Decrees, dated January 28, 2023, in relation to the Manono Project permit.

Which have the effect of:

1. Cancellation of the Ministerial Order which recognized a declaration of partial renunciation of PR13359 by Dathcom , i.e. the northern part which was not covered by the Ministerial Order to convert the PR into a operating permit (PE or Mining License).

2. The cancellation of the ministerial decree which converted the southern part of permit 13359 from a PR to a PE or Permis d’Exploitation minier.

AVZ notes that the aforementioned Ministerial Order recognizes:

• The requirement of a harmonious and healthy cooperation between the shareholders of Dathcom as a prerequisite for the progress of the development of the Manono project.
• The ongoing disagreements, conflicts and differences between the shareholders that blocked the development of the Manono project and the resulting impasse prevents the Congolese State from benefiting from the development of PE 13359.

The company is seeking independent legal advice regarding the two ministerial decrees dated January 28, 2023, while accelerating discussions to clarify the intentions of the competent authorities of the DRC.

Words of AVZ Managing Director, Mr. Nigel Ferguson :

The company apologizes for the continued frustration felt by shareholders and our lead investor, who remains committed and eager to expedite the funding needed to initiate development of the Manono lithium project. The potential economic, social and environmental benefits for the people of Manono, DRC and Africa are huge and will last for generations are huge and will last for generations. Nothing will deter the Board of Directors and myself from seeking a fair outcome for our shareholders, which my executive team is working tirelessly to achieve. We will provide a further update to shareholders as soon as we are able to do so. »

We already apologize for possible errors that may be found in the translation of the press release.

Source: kongopress.com