JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Supreme Court of Western Australia on Wednesday ordered that proceedings started by project house GR Engineering Services against miner Eastern Goldfields regarding the Davyhurst gold refurbishment project be stayed, referring the disputes to arbitration.
Eastern Goldfields applied for the proceedings to be stayed in August 2017. In granting the stay, the court rejected GR Engineering’s submission that its claim of A$9.9-million should be heard by the court because it was a “payment due under the contract”.
The court found that the contentions between the parties “are such that there are differences or dispute between them”, Eastern Goldfields said in a statement.
GR Engineering was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction services contract for Eastern Goldfields’ 1.2-million-tonne-a year Davyhurst processing facility’s refurbishment.
The contractor is claiming A$9.9-million, plus interest and costs. The contract value is about A$18.5-million, including variations for additional works.
GR Engineering was ordered to pay Eastern Goldfields’ cost of the court application.