A battle for control of one of the world’s largest lithium deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo is threatening to derail one of the sharemarket’s hottest growth stories.have rocketed nearly 20-fold since 2019 to a valuation of $2.8 billion.
“We believe that AVZ Minerals is in the process of being outmanoeuvred by a group of powerful Chinese battery manufacturers, who are plotting to take control of the Manono lithium project,” said Boatman Capital founder David Robertson.“We think that, at best, AVZ faces months or years of legal fights to block Zijin Mining and to claim shares from [vendor] Dathomir Mining Resources. At worst, AVZ will lose control of Manono and be left with just 36 per cent of the project.
AVZ put its shares into a trading halt on May 9. It had been approached for comment but had not responded, and on Friday morning it moved to extend its share suspension until June 1.In February, AVZ confirmed that it had signed a deal to sell a 24 per cent stake in the Manono project to Chinese miner Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies for $240 million, which would leave the former with a 51 per cent majority stake on completion.
If AVZ loses its legal battle to assert ownership of a 15 per cent stake, its holding in the Manono project could fall to 36 per cent, versus 39 per cent associated with the Chinese miners, according to Boatman Capital. The remaining 25 per cent would be controlled by the DRC government and associated minority interests.
Pathetic copycat inaccurate so-called ‘jpurnalism’ from AFR. Aren’t journalist meant to do research uncover the real story? Zero work & research in this case.
Poor excuse for journalism if you are relying on this untrustworthy source, a shame on your journalistic morals $AVZ
I only began following the AFR this morning but if this is the level of 'journalism' and 'research' you and use the boatman as a source then I guess I need to unfollow