Manganese battle intensifies as Aquila Steel ramps up seven-year battle
The dispute over mining rights is now heading for Constitutional Court
Aquila Steel has ramped up its seven-year battle to secure its rights to a South African manganese deposit, taking Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, as well as a trination state-owned company, to the Constitutional Court in a matter it believes is an abuse of state power and a critical interpretation of mining laws. The dispute over the rights to the Gravenhage manganese deposit in the Northern Cape has raged for seven years, passing through the high court, which found in Aquila’s favour, the Supreme Court of Appeal, which last year overturned that ruling, and is now entering the Constitutional Court for a final decision that will have far-reaching consequences for mining. The case involves Pan African Mineral Development Company, a group owned by the governments of SA, Zimbabwe and Zambia, which is arguing that it has an ownership claim to the deposit. The case has a bearing on the entire mining industry, which is embroiled in a number of legal challenges with Zwane and t...
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