PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Pilbara Minerals has issued a notice of dispute to fellow-listed Mineral Resources (MinRes) over the sale of lithium from the Pilgangoora project, in Western Australia.

The dispute notice concerns MinRes’s right of first refusal, and the Pilbara Minerals sale notice that was issued in relation to the company’s proposed sale of lithium under an offtake agreement with General Lithium.

Pilbara Minerals and MinRes have been in a war of words over the General Lithium offtake agreement since July, when Pilbara Minerals entered into a transaction with General Lithium for the supply of 140 000 t/y of 6% chemical-grade spodumene concentrate over a six-year period from the first quarter of 2018, from the Pilgangoora lithum/tantalum project.

MinRes, at the time, started proceedings against Pilbara Minerals, claiming that the sales notice was invalid, as MinRes had first right of refusal over the lithium products from Pilgangoora.

The first sales notice was withdrawn in July, only to be followed by a second sales notice in September, which was again challenged.

MinRes charged that the second sales notice did not provide an offer for the company to purchase lithium products on the same terms and conditions as those offered to General Lithium, and that it purports to fix a price instead of offering the same pricing mechanism as that offered to General Lithium, while also failing to include the right offered to General Lithium to negotiate a revision to the pricing formula.

Pilbara Minerals has sought to refute the claims, and on Friday issued MinRes with a notice of dispute. The dispute would now be heard by an independent expert for a final and binding determination within 28 days of the expert’s appointment.

Both Pilbara Minerals and MinRes were contractually obligated to follow this dispute resolution procedure in accordance with the original asset sale agreement, and had to comply with any request by the expert for further information.