JOHANNESBURG - Vedanta Resources said on Wednesday it has notified its Zambian joint venture partner ZCCM-IH that it has launched arbitration proceedings related to an attempt by the Zambian government to liquidate Vedanta’s majority-owned Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).
Mumbai-listed Vedanta has been locked in a dispute with the Zambian government since May when Lusaka appointed a liquidator to run KCM, which is 20 percent owned by ZCCM, Zambia’s state mining company, and 80 percent owned by Vedanta. Zambia accused KCM of breaching the terms of its licence.
This comes after the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg granted Vedanta Resources an urgent interim order blocking minority shareholder Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) from liquidating Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).
The granting of the interim interdict means that, pending the final outcome of an arbitration process, ZCCM should immediately withdraw its winding-up proceedings.
In a statement, Vedanta said it welcomed the ruling by Judge Adams and reiterated its commitment to resolving the dispute with ZCCM via arbitration.