ICC arbitration / mining / Africa

Our client, a private mining company based in the Central African region, held three mining licences (copper) and had entered into a preliminary contract (the "Preliminary Contract") with a view to entering into a joint venture agreement being negotiated with a major North American player (the "JV Agreement").

• The Preliminary Contract expressly provided for its binding nature (11 times), an exclusivity clause and a number of essential terms of the JV Agreement.

• With negotiations at a standstill, our client notified the other party of its intention to withdraw from the negotiations and terminate the Preliminary Contract. The opposing party initiated emergency arbitration followed by ICC arbitration in Paris.

• In the emergency arbitration, which was conducted in three weeks, the opposing party sought an injunction prohibiting our client from entering into negotiations with third parties during the arbitration on the merits.

• We obtained the rejection of these injunction applications, arguing in particular that the measures sought were not urgent.

• In the arbitration on the merits, we secured the dismissal of all claims seeking specific performance, with a total value exceeding USD 1 billion.