Asa faces lawsuit over indigenisation agreement

ASA Resources Plc faces another lawsuit over an indigenisation agreement entered into by its subsidiary Freda Rebecca Gold Mine in 2012.

Asa, formerly Mwana Africa Plc, has already been slapped with a $20 million lawsuit by another indigenous group, the Zindico Consortium over its attempts to change an agreement to sell 26 percent of Freda, the country’s single largest gold mine but is confident it will win.

According to a source close to developments, the Bindura Community Trust has approached Manyangadze Legal Practioners who are also representing Zindico Con- sortium to file a $10 million lawsuit against Asa Resources.

“Bindura Community Trust has approached its legal advisers with an intention to sue Asa Resource Group’s Chinese shareholders who reneged from a signed indigenisation agreement.”

Asa signed an agreement in 2012 to sell 10 percent of the gold mine shares to the community share ownership trust, the Bindura Community Trust, under the current Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.

However, the sources say that the new Chinese shareholders (China International Mining Group Corporation) who booted out founding director Kalaa Mpinga, were reviewing the agreements with the intention of approaching the Government with a new indigenous plan to replace the previously signed agreements.

China International Mining Group Corporation came on board in 2012 after underwriting a $21 million investment to restart Asa’s Bindura Nickel Corporation.

Asa Resources Group is also parent company to Zimbabwe Stock Exchangelisted resources group Bindura Nickel Corporation.

In an update to analysts and media recently, the company the confirmed that they were before the courts on the Zindico agreement but only said that the case lacked merit.

The group was confident of a positive outcome.