Burkina Faso has nationalized the Wahgnion and Boungou gold mines for about $ 80 million, which was at the centre of a legal dispute between Endeavour Mining Plc and Lilium Mining.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Endeavour Mining had agreed last year to sell the two mines to Lilium Mining for more than $300mn. However, the London-listed gold producer claimed that Lilium missed over $100 million in payments.
Lilium on the other hand argued that London-listed Endeavour had misrepresented and hidden financial information about the mines.
In the new deal, Lilium will transfer ownership of Boungou and Wahgnion to the Burkina Faso government and in return, the state will pay Endeavour $60 million and a 3% royalty on up to 400,000 ounces of gold produced at the Wahgnion mine.
The two companies will drop legal action against each other as part of the agreement. Endeavour launched arbitration proceedings against Lilium in March over non-payment.
Lilium countersued a month later, alleging concealment and misrepresentation of information relating to the finances and operations of the two mines.
After the deal, Endeavour thanked the Government of Burkina Faso for its mediation efforts. However, Lilium and Burkina Faso’s junta have not commented.
Lilium is a subsidiary of Lilium Capital, an investment firm founded by US-Burkinabe businessman Simon Tiemtore.
The nationalisation follows a growing pattern of African governments, especially those under military juntas, seeking to exert greater control over their natural resources.
In June, the military junta that seized power in Niger stripped French state-owned giant Orano of its mining licence at the Imouraren mine, one of the world’s largest uranium mines, in the north of the country.
Chief executive Nicolas Maes told investors last month that the company had begun legal proceedings to protect its rights at Imouraren….CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLE>>>
