This archive report was first published on 28 August 2019.
On August 27, 2019, Zambia's High Court suspended hearings on the winding up of Vedanta Resources' local mining business until the Court of Appeal rules on the lower court's refusal to let the matter go to arbitration.
The dispute between Vedanta and the Zambian government began in May 2019, when Lusaka appointed a liquidator to run Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), which is 20 per cent owned by Zambian state mining company ZCCM and the rest by Vedanta.
Legal arguments have been heard in both Zambia and South Africa, with a South African high court judge finding in Vedanta's favour on August 23, 2019, when he refused ZCCM leave to appeal a previous ruling in the South African courts halting the sale of KCM pending arbitration.
“Judge Banda decided that despite her not believing in the likelihood of Vedanta's grounds for appeal, it was in the interest of justice to stay the hearing of the petition,” Provisional Liquidator Milingo Lungu said in a statement.
On August 7, 2019, the Lusaka High Court refused Vedanta's application to halt the Zambian government's winding-up proceedings against KCM.
