中澳铁矿法律战再起波澜 Clive Palmer's Mineralogy sues China's Citic Ltd for A$10bn

A company owned by Clive Palmer, the Australian mining tycoon turned politician, is suing China’s Citic Limited for A$10bn (US$7.1bn) in the latest twist in a bitter legal battle involving an iron ore project.

克莱夫帕尔默(Clive Palmer)旗下的一家公司正在起诉中信股份(Citic Limited)，索赔100亿澳元（合71亿美元）。这是围绕一个铁矿石项目的激烈法律战的最新波折。帕尔默是澳大利亚的矿业大亨，后来投身政界。

Mineralogy claims the Chinese state-owned company is exporting iron ore from their joint venture Sino Iron project in Western Australia without paying the agreed level of royalties.

Mineralogy声称，中国国有企业中信正从双方在西澳大利亚合资的中澳铁矿(Sino Iron)项目出口铁矿石，却没有按约定水平支付特许权使用费。

“By repudiating the commercial arrangements the Citic companies are liable to pay mineralogy damages equivalent to the value of the rights Citic has repudiated,” said Clive Mensink, Mineralogy chairman.

Mineralogy董事长克莱夫门兴克(Clive Mensink)表示：“由于拒绝履行这些商业协议，中信公司有责任向Mineralogy支付损害赔偿金，价值相当于其拒绝履行的权利价值。”

He said Citic had also failed to meet other financial obligations to Mineralogy in what seemed to be a “deliberate strategy to gain control of Australian resources without having to pay for them”.

他说，中信也未能履行对Mineralogy的其他金融义务，这似乎是一个“不花钱就控制澳大利亚资源的蓄意战略”。

The case, which has recently been taken to the supreme court of Western Australia, is one of several court actions involving both parties over the A$10bn Sino Iron business, which was set up as a joint venture in 2006 but has faced delays and technical problems.

此案最近在西澳最高法院提起，是双方围绕100亿澳元中澳铁矿业务展开的数项法律行动之一。中澳铁矿合资项目在2006年设立，但多次遭遇延迟和技术问题。

In March, Citic wrote down the value of the Sino Iron venture by US$2.5bn.

今年3月，中信对中澳铁矿项目价值减记25亿美元。

At the heart of the dispute is the level of royalties that Citic should pay Mineralogy, which owns the rights to mine the ore deposits.

纠纷的核心是中信应向Mineralogy支付的特许权使用费水平，后者拥有开采这些矿藏的权利。

In this most recent case, Mineralogy claims Citic is refusing to pay a portion of an agreed royalty payment, according to a statement issued by Mineralogy. The court papers were not immediately made available to the media.

在这起最近的案件中，按照Mineralogy发布的声明，中信拒绝支付一部分约定的特许权使用费。媒体一时未能获得相关法庭文件。

The legal battle between the two companies began in 2012 and intensified over the past 18 months when Citic launched legal proceedings, which accused Mr Palmer of misusing $12m through his company Mineralogy to finance his election campaign last year.

两家公司之间的法律战开始于2012年，并在过去18个月升级，中信提起诉讼，指责帕尔默去年通过其公司Mineralogy非法挪用1200万美元资助他的竞选活动。

Judge David Jackson later ruled Mr Palmer had no case to answer with regard to the alleged misappropriation of the A$12m.

法官戴维瀠克逊(David Jackson)后来裁定，帕尔默无须就1200万澳元的挪用指控答辩。

The dispute flared again last August when Mr Palmer launched a televised tirade against the Chinese, calling them “bastards” and “mongrels” who shoot their own citizens. Mr Palmer later apologised for the remarks.

这场争执于去年8月再次升级，当时帕尔默在电视上发表长篇讲话攻击中国人，称他们是射杀本国公民的“杂种”和“混蛋”。帕尔默后来为这些言论道歉。

Last month the federal court dismissed an attempt by Mineralogy to prevent Citic from using a port in the Pilbara to export its iron ore. Mineralogy had claimed Citic had agreed to hand over the port to Mineralogy after it was built.

上月，澳大利亚联邦法院驳回了Mineralogy阻止中信使用皮尔巴拉的一个港口出口其铁矿石的努力。Mineralogy此前声称，中信曾同意在该港口建成后移交给己方。

Citic said the company looked forward to the validity of the recent claims being scrutinised by the court.

中信表示，期待法庭审查近期诉讼的有效性。

“Mr Palmer regularly makes all sorts of claims against a host of people and organisations. This is yet another claim lodged by his companies since the federal court dismissed Mineralogy’s attempt to terminate key port agreements at the Sino Iron project. Like the other claims, it overlaps matters being addressed in other proceedings,” Citic said.

中信表示：“帕尔默时不时对很多个人和组织提起各种各样的诉讼。这是自联邦法庭驳回Mineralogy终止中澳铁矿项目关键港口协议的尝试以来，由其旗下公司发起的又一起诉讼。与其他诉讼一样，它与其他诉讼中已经解决的问题重叠。”