CHAMELEON Mining is poised for a big pay day after it claimed victory in its three-year legal stoush against Murchison Metals over a multi-billion dollar Mid West iron project.
The Federal Court today ruled in Chameleon’s favour, saying the company is allowed to claim a portion of the profits from Murchison’s flagship asset, the Jack Hills iron ore operation in the Mid West region of WA.
The Court found Murchison had used $227,840 it received from Chameleon, through de facto director Phillip Grimaldi, to buy the iron ore asset – then called the Iron Jack project - which was bought for $1.16 million in 2004.
The mine produces more than 1.5 million tonnes of iron ore each year. It is run by Crossland Resources, a joint venture between Murchison and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation.
Chameleon has previously valued the iron ore mine and tenements at around $1.5 billion.
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During the legal stoush, Chameleon claimed it was entitled to half of the project and its tenements, however Murchison has consistently denied this, saying the transaction was undertaken prior to the current board taking positions with the miner.
Today the Court found that Murchison had used Chameleon’s funds to “derive an income stream from the exploitation of the Iron Jack project”, and therefore shou
Today the Court found that Murchison had used Chameleon’s funds to “derive an income stream from the exploitation of the Iron Jack project”, and therefore is entitled make a payment to Chameleon.
The judge presiding over the case added that Chameleon will be able to seek a portion of profits from the iron ore operation which it helped pay for, however the amount will need to be determined.
Chameleon managing director Anthony Karam said he was “thrilled” with the court decision today, and the company would hire a forensic accountancy team to assess how much it was entitled to.