PMA and Xstrata face-off

IT will be an interesting day in the New South Wales Supreme court next Friday when the David-and-Goliath battle between Perth junior Precious Metals Australia and Swiss mining giant Xstrata comes to the bench.

PMA is suing Xstrata for breach of a royalty agreement after it closed the WA Windimurra vanadium project early last year. The case is listed for mention on February 6 and Xstrata will be seeking an assurance that PMA can afford its legal bills. However, PMA announced last week that it is now also asking its former partner to pay for its legal costs – about $480,000, so far.

PMA’s claim, if successful, would likely rule out Xstrata’s security of cost claims and potentially any drawn-out legal proceedings the wealthy Swiss-miner may be planning.