September 07, 2008

Cazaly to appeal in High Court against decision in favor of Rio

It is reported that Australian explorer Cazaly Resources Ltd has taken steps to bring its battle for the Shovelanna iron ore tenement in Western Australia to the High Court. Cazaly's appeal is aimed to overturn a state decision to terminate it's claim to the iron ore tenement in WA's Pilbara region. The application will be heard on a date to be fixed some time after September 25, 2007.

Late last month, an appeal by Cazaly to wrest back control of the tenement from resources giant Rio Tinto Ltd was rejected by the Supreme Court of WA and was ordered to pay the legal costs of Rio and the state government. Since then, Cazaly has taken advice from a senior barrister and will now bring an application to the High Court of Australia for special leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal of WA.

Shovelanna had sat in Rio's portfolio and that of its partners Ms Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting and Michael Wright's Wright Prospecting since 1981, with little work conducted after a 130 million tonne resource was defined. Cazaly snared Shovelanna in 2005 after Rio Tinto's exploration license for the tenement expired simply because a courier failed to deliver renewal documents on time. After Cazaly swooped on the tenement, Rio appealed to the WA government to invoke its power to refuse certain tenement applications, as allowed under the state's Mining Act, on the grounds of public interest. The tenement was handed back to Rio in April 2006 after then WA resources minister Mr John Bowler used his discretion under the Act.