中澳鐵礦法律戰再起波瀾 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.

克萊夫帕爾默(Clive Palmer)旗下的一家公司正在起訴中信股份(Citic Limited)，索賠100億澳元（合71億美元）。這是圍繞一個鐵礦石項目的激烈法律戰的最新波折。帕爾默是澳大利亞的礦業大亨，後來投身政界。

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聲稱，中國國有企業中信正從雙方在西澳大利亞合資的中澳鐵礦(Sino Iron)項目出口鐵礦石，卻沒有按約定水平支付特許權使用費。

“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董事長克萊夫門興克(Clive Mensink)表示：“由於拒絕履行這些商業協議，中信公司有責任向Mineralogy支付損害賠償金，價值相當於其拒絕履行的權利價值。”

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”.

他說，中信也未能履行對Mineralogy的其他金融義務，這似乎是一個“不花錢就控制澳大利亞資源的蓄意戰略”。

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，是雙方圍繞100億澳元中澳鐵礦業務展開的數項法律行動之一。中澳鐵礦合資項目在2006年設立，但多次遭遇延遲和技術問題。

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

今年3月，中信對中澳鐵礦項目價值減記25億美元。

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.

糾紛的核心是中信應向Mineralogy支付的特許權使用費水平，後者擁有開採這些礦藏的權利。

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.

在這起最近的案件中，按照Mineralogy發佈的聲明，中信拒絕支付一部分約定的特許權使用費。媒體一時未能獲得相關法庭文件。

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.

兩家公司之間的法律戰開始於2012年，並在過去18個月升級，中信提起訴訟，指責帕爾默去年通過其公司Mineralogy非法挪用1200萬美元資助他的競選活動。

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

法官戴維瀠克遜(David Jackson)後來裁定，帕爾默無須就1200萬澳元的挪用指控答辯。

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.

這場爭執於去年8月再次升級，當時帕爾默在電視上發表長篇講話攻擊中國人，稱他們是射殺本國公民的“雜種”和“混蛋”。帕爾默後來爲這些言論道歉。

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，澳大利亞聯邦法院駁回了Mineralogy阻止中信使用皮爾巴拉的一個港口出口其鐵礦石的努力。Mineralogy此前聲稱，中信曾同意在該港口建成後移交給己方。

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

中信表示，期待法庭審查近期訴訟的有效性。

“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：“帕爾默時不時對很多個人和組織提起各種各樣的訴訟。這是自聯邦法庭駁回Mineralogy終止中澳鐵礦項目關鍵港口協議的嘗試以來，由其旗下公司發起的又一起訴訟。與其他訴訟一樣，它與其他訴訟中已經解決的問題重疊。”