Brenda Berlin
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum mining company Impala Platinum (Implats) has secured a court order against a US platinum recycler, from which it is claiming $201-million.
Implats said on Wednesday that the order, issued by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, confirmed a London Court of International Arbitration order on A1 Specialised Services and Supplies Limited to pay to Implats $201-million.
Following a dispute in which Implats asserted that A1 had defaulted on amounts due to it, the matter was heard by the London Court of International Arbitration, which issued a final award in Implats’ favour for the full amount claimed.
Implats said in a release to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online on Wednesday that it would pursue all legal avenues available to it to collect the amount due.
As outlined by Implats earlier, the recycler of autocatalyst materials had a long-standing association with Implats’ Impala Refining Services (IRS) and supplied platinum scrap to IRS on a regular basis until a few years ago, when it ceased deliveries of all material.
Implats CFO Brenda Berlin told Mining Weekly Online at the time that Implats took an initial impairment of R212-million against amounts owed and later impaired the full R1.2-billion remaining carrying value in the accounts after a default on agreed payment terms.
A-1 went into default after the global economic crash of 2008, leaving its refining contract to lapse.
At the time, A-1 described itself on its website as a global leader in the recycling of platinum-group metals from salvaged catalytic converters, and an active marketer of platinum, palladium and rhodium to meet consumer needs.