Clive Palmer demands $10bn damages from Citic

Clive Palmer has continued his war with China’s overseas investment company Citic, demanding $10 billion in damages.

The legal war between Clive Palmer and the Chinese government’s overseas investment company escalated yesterday with a new salvo fired by the ­tycoon, who now demands $10 billion in damages.

Mr Palmer, who has not ­received mining royalties from his iron ore tenements because of an unresolved legal dispute with China’s Citic group over the amount payable, said in Brisbane that he had instructed lawyers to file the action in Perth’s Supreme Court.

He wants to sever all ties with the Chinese side, which has spent $10bn developing the project and began exporting iron ore in December 2013.

The action comes a fortnight after a Federal Court judge made scathing findings about the ­reliability of geology reports on the quality of the tenements, which delivered a $US415 million windfall from the Chinese to the Palmer United Party leader.

Judge James Edelman, who delivered a strong rebuke to Mr Palmer in the last case and described some of his legal team’s arguments as “simply false”, ­lamented the costly, time-­consuming litigation.

“The litigation between the parties, and the associated ­uncertainty, might last for years,’’ Justice Edelman said.

“It could consume many more millions of dollars in legal fees. These consequences offer no advantage to anyone.

“They might be avoided if the parties are able to negotiate in a commercial manner, reasonably, and in good faith, towards terms that will clarify their rights and expectations for the long term. Such negotiation might have good prospects of success if it could take place without the shadow of existing or threatened litigation.”

However, Mr Palmer yesterday raised the stakes with his bid for $10bn damages, which he said was calculated from the “net present value” of royalties he ­demands from the Chinese side.

“This is purely in respect to money that they owe us from minerals they have taken from Australia back to China, and not paid even one cent for,” he said at the Brisbane office of his flagship company Mineralogy. As much as $500m  worth of iron ore concentrate had been shipped without royalty payments to Mineralogy, he said. Citic has been paying royalties to the West Australian government.

Yesterday Mr Palmer’s nephew, Clive Mensink, accused Citic of “unconscionable behaviour”.

A Citic spokesman said: “Mr Palmer regularly makes all sorts of claims against a host of people and organisations. Like the other claims, it overlaps matters being addressed in other proceedings.”

He said Citic looked forward to having the latest claims scrutinised by the courts.