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Mer 3 Aoû 2011 10:52
Albidon Minority Shareholders Seek Control Of Munali From Ji
By Nicholas Bariyo & contributing to Dow Jones Newswires;256-75-2624615 bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk
Published August 03, 2011
| Dow Jones Newswires
Minority shareholders of Australia-based nickel miner, Albidon Ltd. (ALB.AU) are seeking to wrestle the control of the company's only nickel producing project, Munali Nickel Mine in Zambia, from China's Jinchuan Group co. (2362.HK), the majority owner of Albidon, officials have said.
The shareholders have formed a pressure group, known as Action Albidon, whose aim is to win back the control of the mine from Jinchuan which is also the sole purchaser of Munali's Nickel output, one of the shareholders told Dow Jones Newswires this week.
"It is our aim to restore control of the stock to all of the investors after it has become hijacked by the majority shareholder," an investor said.
Jinchuan acquired a 51% stake in Albidon in 2008 and has since injected at least $37 million in Munali, helping the mine to restart output which had been halted in 2008 amid low global metal prices.
According to Action Albidon, there are no independent controls at Munali to oversee production of ore, inventories and sales of the product to the single customer Jinchuan
A Jinchuan spokesman justified the company's control of Munali, saying that it had made significant equity investments in the mine to save it from collapsing during the global economic turmoil.
"Jinchuan and Albidon off take agreement was negotiated on the basis of standard commercial terms following a protracted process of negotiations with other major nickel companies," he said.
Any decision on the future equity structure and control of the mine will be determined by the outcome of the ongoing review, he added.
Albidon's board appointed a panel last week to conduct a comprehensive review of its operations, corporate management, board composition and capital structure, responding to pressure from the minority shareholders.
Albidon's officials said one of the aims of the review is to identify more independent directors to run the mine along with Jinchuan.
"The board has committed itself of to acting promptly on the recommendations of its appointed advisor, Riverstone Advisory Pty Ltd.," a company official said.
Last week, Albidon lowered its 2011 nickel production by 21%, citing lower-than-expected production. The mine has been plagued by work stoppages due to accidents and miners unrest affecting its operations since May.
The company's former chief executive, Jian-Hua Sang, resigned his position last month following a spate of mine accidents at Munali and pressure from the minority shareholders.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2 ... z1TxDIf6En