The Singapore International Arbitration Centre will hear the dispute between Lepidico and the Chinese corporation Jiangxi Jinhui Lithium over a 2017 Karibib project lithium offtake agreement in early November 2024.
Desert Lion signed the offtake agreement on November 6, 2017, to sell stockpiled material from the Helikon and Rubicon mines.
In 2019, Lepidico acquired Desert Lion and renamed it Lepidico Chemicals Namibia.
Lepidico stated in its Half-Yearly Report on Monday that nominating arbitrators to a three-man panel was complete and the timetable was set.
The panel consists of two arbitrators nominated by each party and a third neutral one.
Jiangxi Jinhui’s December 4, 2023, claim wants Lepidico to pay US$5 million, comprising the initial deposit of US$4.5 million plus expenses related to the dispute.
Lepidico filed its statement of defence and counterclaim on January 15, 2024, arguing that the deposit was not refundable under Ontario law.
Under the agreed timetable, the arbitration hearing has been provisionally fixed for early November 2024 if the parties cannot come to a settlement earlier.
Details of the dispute
Desert Lion agreed to sell all lithium concentrate from the Karibib project, estimated to be between 150.000 and 160.000 tonnes, to Jiangxi Jinhui Lithium within 12 or 18 months.
The agreement, amended on February 13, 2018, expired on November 16, 2022.
In March 2018, Desert Lion delivered the first shipment of 30,000 tons of lithium concentrate material, valued at US$3.8 million.
However, Desert Lion suspended all operations in September 2018 and initiated negotiations with Jiangxi Jinhui Lithium to amend the offtake agreement.
Lepidico acquired Desert Lion nine months later, but the Jiangxi Jinhui deal was still operational.
On May 31, 2023, Jiangxi Jinhui Lithium filed a Notice of Arbitration under the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
