AIM-listed Red Rock Resources’ executives are planning to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to address a $10-million claim the company made regarding its involvement in the VUP copper/cobalt joint venture.
“What should have been the simplest of matters, obtaining our share of the sales proceeds of an asset bought and paid for in 2018, has taken far too long, but I am confident that we will prevail and receive the monies owed,” said Red Rock chairperson Andrew Bell.
The company announced last January that its DRC subsidiary had received an executory judgement for $2.5 million in 2022.
This sum makes up 50.1% of the $5 million that a buyer paid to a local partner.
Additionally, the outcome of arbitration hearings in Kinshasa to secure $7.5 million, which represents 50.1% of the $15 million that the buyer has yet to pay, is still pending.
Red Rock received a draft of the arbitration award and is waiting for it to be finalised and released.
Since the conclusion of the presidential and parliamentary elections in the DRC on December 31, 2023, and Felix Tshisekedi winning a second term in office, the process and finalisation of payments were anticipated to resume.
“We have made considerable progress, but we consider that coordination of the final steps requires our presence in Kinshasa,” Bell said.
Meanwhile, the company said a group of Red Rock representatives was currently in Kenya, focusing on the renewal of two licences.
The company boasts a substantial 723,000-ounce gold mineral resource along with a tailings project in the country.
Renewing the licences will pave the way for the next phase of exploration to move forward to expand the resource to over one million ounces.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
