Here's a plain Engrish version of Brad Thompson's article published in the Australian:
The Australian
Mining Energy
AVZ boss Nigel Ferguson breaks silence as key players in Congo lithium project gather
AVZ Minerals managing director Nigel Ferguson has broken his silence as key players in the battle for a giant lithium project – including a Chinese billionaire and a US company backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos – gather in Perth.
In his first interview since AVZ spiralled from an ASX-listed company valued at $4.6bn to a Ferguson said he remained hell-bent on securing the best deal for shareholders in any sale of the Manono lithium project in the strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, regardless of the powerful geopolitical forces in play.
California-headquartered KoBold Metals is considered the frontrunner to acquire Manono from AVZ, as part of a deal which will have consequences for the Trump administration and Chinese Communist Party’s critical minerals ambitions in Africa.
Mr Ferguson indicated KoBold needed to step up its offer to get a deal done. Other US entities have shown an interest, and AVZ has been assured of support from its heavyweight Chinese backers in any continuation of a legal battle with the DRC over rights to Manono.
Senior figures from KoBold are in Perth at the same time as Chinese billionaire Pei Zhenhua, a major shareholder in Hong Kong-listed battery chemicals giant CATL, and a substantial player in the supply of lithium hydroxide and carbonate in his own right.
Mr Pei, with a fortune valued at almost $15bn by Forbes, has had talks with Mr Ferguson in recent days and is a regular visitor to WA where he has other investments in the battery supply chain. He owns 60 per cent of Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies, the Chinese company that is funding AVZ’s legal costs. CATL owns the other 40 per cent.
AVZ’s other big Chinese shareholders include Huayou, a critical minerals player that has invested heavily in cobalt and in the growth of Indonesian nickel production that contributed to the closure of nickel mines in Australia.
KoBold sent one of its contingent in Perth to Canberra for meetings with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Treasury officials on Thursday. The company is understood to have some exploration interests in WA in addition to its designs on Manono.
Attention has focused on the small Gates and Bezos shareholdings in KoBold, but another billionaire on the register – Marc Andreessen – is seen as having the most influence on the White House when it comes to the future of Manono.
Mr Andreessen is a backer of US Vice President JD Vance and a noted China hawk. It is understood the US and the DRC have pencilled in the signing of a critical mineral pact for around August 22 but any breakdown in talks between KoBold and AVZ on a Manono deal threatens to derail those plans.
Mr Ferguson said Manono was “clearly the subject of great power competition”.
“The framework agreement with Kobold Metals, with the support of the US State Department, allows for a commercial deal to be struck with an American corporate entity,” he said.
“However, if an offer comes from another quarter we would be obliged to review this in detail and with the best interest of our shareholders in mind.
“A commercially acceptable offer that reflects the globally significant value of the Manono project has not been presented as yet and negotiations are still being progressed. Kobold is well aware of what we consider the project value to be.”
Mr Ferguson refused to speculate on what he considered a fair price.
“AVZ remains committed to completing an agreement to sell the assets to an American company as agreed with the US State Department but only on commercially acceptable terms,” he said.
“Time is of the essence with the US and DRC government apparently ready to execute an agreement for peace in the region and a critical minerals deal on or around August 22 at the White House.
“The Manono project is clearly the subject of great power competition. We recognise this. We will leave the geopolitics to others. Our responsibility is to our shareholders. We want to strike a commercial deal in their interests.”
The other big player in the fight for Manono is Chinese mining heavyweight Zijin, which gained a sizeable footprint in the WA gold sector through its acquisition of Northern Gold Fields.
Zijin – which set up an office in the same West Perth building as AVZ amid the Manono dispute – has charged ahead with developing the northern section of the deposit in the face of AVZ’s legal challenge in the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
Manono boasts an 842 million tonne resource at 1.61 per cent lithium oxide and is split into two geographically distinct northern and southern deposits. The southern part alone, sometimes referred to as Roche Dure, holds a 669 million-tonne resource.
AVZ maintains the DRC acted illegally by taking over its permit over the whole of Manono and then awarding the northern portion to Chinese mining company Zijin in September 2023.
A DRC-owned mining company and Zijin have so far ignored or challenged the international court’s orders, including a €39m ($69m) penalty payable to AVZ that is accruing at a daily rate of €50,000 plus interest.
The US State Department was supportive of the framework agreement struck deal between AVZ and KoBold in May against a backdrop of the DRC seeking US protection from Rwanda-backed M23 rebels that had caused havoc and overrun parts of the resources-rich country.
However, they have not been able to agree on a price and doubts remain about whether KoBold, a mining and artificial intelligence start-up, could develop Manono without an experienced partner.
The project has also caught the eye of Rio Tinto, which has so far refused to comment on any interest.
One source suggested AVZ and KoBold were miles apart on price with AVZ talking billions of dollars and not giving up on reparations from Zijin over the northern part of Manono.
Mr Ferguson said the strengthening relationship between the US and the DRC had opened a window for AVZ to “achieve a positive outcome for shareholders”.
“We appreciate it is also an opportunity for the US government to address the lithium supply chain imbalance. We have spent a lot of time in the US this year, and we have appreciated the US government support,” he said
“Nonetheless, we will ultimately need to fulfil our legal responsibility to our shareholders and accept the best offer tabled.
“If KoBold is not able to present a commercially acceptable proposal, the project will in the short term continue to be locked up in arbitration. This will be to the detriment of the Congo, the people of Manono, and US critical minerals supply chains.”
AVZ had some 21,000 shareholders when its market valuation peaked at $4.6bn. The row with authorities in the DRC over what was touted as the world’s biggest lithium deposit led to the suspension of its share in May 2022 and delisting from the ASX in 2024.
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