Nickel mining in the Solomon Islands remains at a standstill with the nation’s highest court ruling that neither of the two Japanese and Australian miners vying for a license are entitled to one.
According to a report from Reuters, the Solomon Islands Court of Appeal this week rejected Sumitomo Metal Mining's (T:5713) appeal that the local government was in the wrong to cancel its license to develop the Isabel nickel laterite discovery five years ago.
With that same ruling, the Court of Appeal struck a blow against Sumitomo’s competitor Axiom Mining by revoking its license for the Isabel site, as well. The two mining companies have been fighting over the Isabel discovery since 2011, the wire service stated.
“We will look closely into the court’s decisions and think about what steps we would take next,” a spokesman for Sumitomo Metal Mining told the news source.
Keep an Eye on Nickel Prices
Although metal prices have improved overall in 2016, the most liquid and watched of metals, nickel, is not leading the move and remains near multiyear lows.
In other metal price news, sharp increases have been seen in CRC and HDG, raising some warning flags. We are also seeing a broad recovery among industrial metals, thanks in part to a weaker dollar and higher oil prices, according to Lisa Reisman, executive editor, MetalMiner™.
by Kyle Fitzsimmons