Clive Palmer tells Citic he needs another $750 million for land deal
Clive Palmer has demanded another $750 million from Chinese conglomerate Citic in exchange for land.
Clive Palmer has demanded $750 million from Chinese conglomerate Citic in exchange for land that would allow Citic to continue operations at its $16 billion Sino Iron mine in Western Australia.
Citic has launched legal action against Mr Palmer and the former MP’s private company Mineralogy over their refusal to sign off on plans including an expansion of Sino Iron’s tailings dam. Citic has warned that the future of the mine is at risk if the additional works are not carried out.
Mr Palmer released a statement on Wednesday saying that Mineralogy would make land available to Citic, but only if the Chinese conglomerate handed over another $750m.
“The problem is the Chinese don’t want to pay for anything. They want the WA Government to take land for free from Australian companies and individuals despite the fact there is a state agreement in place,’’ he said.
“It’s unconscionable that a Chinese government-owned company demands that the WA government jumps to their tune by giving land to them for free.”
The land at the centre of the latest fight is already subleased from Mineralogy by Citic. As part of the complex web of agreements and contracts governing the project, Mineralogy must sign off on the mine continuation plan put forward by Citic before it can be approved by the state government.
Mr Palmer rose to prominence through his original 2006 deal to sell mining rights at Sino Iron to Citic for $US415m. Last year he also won a long-running legal fight with Citic over royalties from the project, delivering him $US150m in back royalties and entitling him to potentially hundreds of millions more in future payments.
The latest cash demand kills off any hope for a speedy resolution, with another protracted legal dispute now a near certainty.
The original proposals submitted to the state in 2010 were designed to cover the first five years of operations at Sino Iron, with additional areas for tailings and waste rock to be sought in the following years.
But the subsequent breakdown in the relationship between Citic and Mr Palmer means Citic has instead been forced to raise the walls of the initial tailing dam, adding to the project’s already strained economics.
The news came as liquidators of Mr Palmer’s collapsed nickel refinery said his attempt to delay a court hearing and throw out a case that would require him to answer questions about the whereabouts of his fugitive nephew Clive Mensink was “a stunt”.
Mr Palmer made a last-minute application ahead of his scheduled examination hearing in the Federal Court on Wednesday.