Palmer's Mineralogy claimed it is owed money by CITIC's Sino Iron mine in Western Australia over a failure to agree to a formula for calculating the value of the ore extracted at the site following a shift in pricing in the iron ore market.
China's coal imports dropped 21 percent in October as government moves to replace coal with cleaner fuel, iron ore prices followed coal futures higher.
The two firms are just the latest names in a long list of companies that includes major players such as Rio Tinto, interested in grabbing a stake in Chile’s Chemical and Mining Society (SQM).
With global diamond demand forecast to grow at approx 3.5% annually over next five years, a supply gap down the line seems inevitable if forecasts hold.