Legal battle in sight for mining facilities
The North American Lithium facilities, including the La Corne mine, are paying the price of a legal dispute between Sayona Quebec and Central America Nickel.
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At the end of June, the Superior Court of Quebec approved the sale of the North American Lithium facilities, including the La Corne lithium mine in Sayona Quebec. Following the judgment, Central America Nickel decided to appeal it.
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The heart of the problem, according to Central America Nickel, is that several irregularities marked the process due to a lack of transparency and oversight. According to the company, the tendering procedure put in place by the Court in May 2019 would not have respected.
“If the rules are not meant to be followed or can be overruled or waived by the Monitor at any point in the submission process, then why even bother to state the rules in the first place?” How can such a selection process be fair or transparent if the goalposts are constantly moved during the game? ”Asked the president and general manager of Central America Nickel, Pierre Gauthier.
“The decision to favor Sayona’s offer is an unfortunate setback, but we hope the Court of Appeal will recognize that it needs to be reconsidered. A tendering process must be clear, secure and rigorous so that the outcome – whatever it is – is accepted by all. This was clearly not the case with the Sayona proposal, ”he added.
Judge Martin Castonguay, in his oral decision, had mentioned, according to the Central America Nickel press release, that Raymond Chabot inc. had the discretion to accept non-compliant bids, allow bids to rectify or correct deficiencies in their proposal, and not be bound by the Court-approved Sales and Investor Solicitation Procedures.
One of the bidders
Central America Nickel was one of two qualified finalist bidders to acquire North American Lithium.
“Our offer represented the best option for Quebec with a better return for Investissement Quebec, the immediate transformation of lithium in the province and with the additional treatment of rare earths, cobalt and nickel. In addition, we were assured that our proposal was the most competitive both from a financial and technical point of view, and with regard to the strategic importance of critical minerals in Quebec; Quebec is positioning itself as a world leader in the transformation and production of lithium and other critical minerals, ”explained Pierre Gauthier.
Sayona will transform in the United States
Central America Nickel maintains that no secondary processing is planned at the North American Lithium plant until five years after mining operations have started. “The lithium concentrates will be exported to the United States to supply the commercial operations of Sayona’s financial partner, Piedmont Lithium,” said the Montreal company.
The plan of the Montreal company called for the transformation in Quebec of lithium, nickel, cobalt as well as critical minerals and rare earths imported. His offer was valued at $ 95 million.
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