Palmer said the foreign company had shipped up to $500 million worth of iron ore concentrate without meeting its contractual obligations.
Aussie mining tycoon turned politician, Clive Palmer, is suing China’s Citic Limited for $7.1 billion (A$10bn), in the latest twist of a long-dragged legal battle over their joint venture Sino Iron project in Western Australia.
This time, Palmer’s firm Mineralogy is taking Citic to court over what it claims to be a lack of royalty payments from the project, which was built on Palmer’s leases, Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Palmer, who was Mineralogy chairman when the first deal with Citic was made, says the Chinese company — which he believes it to have a cash balance of $160 billion — had the financial means to pay its balance. He claims Citic is abusing the Australian legal system to delay its debts.
According to Palmer’s estimates, the foreign company has shipped up to $500 million worth of iron ore concentrate without meeting its contractual obligations.
In the past, the two firms have fought over several issues, including access to the port used by their iron ore Sino project, claims of corruption, misuse of funds, defamation, and racism.
The companies first locked horns in 2012 and have continued battling over the past two years, after Citic launched legal proceedings, which accused Palmer of misusing close to $9 million (A$12 million) through his company Mineralogy to finance his election campaign last year.
Comments
Mark
It will be very embarrassing for the loser of this case whomever it may be like most court cases there will be a communication problem at the center or different information held by both sides. If CITIC loses there will be a question over Chinese business ethics – that they cannot really afford.