Reuters reported that London Mining, which began producing iron ore from its Sierra Leone operation last month, has refuted a US lawsuit filed by a joint venture partner seeking damages of at least USD 650 million citing breaches of fiduciary duty.

London Mining said the counterclaim followed its own efforts in December to recover a USD 1 million loan due from Wits Basin Precious Metals, a partner in the Xiaonanshan iron ore mine in China, which stopped operations in 2010.

The miner said "London Mining firmly believes that the answer and counterclaim are merely a tactic to avoid repayment of the USD 1 million loan and are completely without merit."

It said "London Mining also believes that there is no valid defence against repayment of the USD 1 million loan which is now due and payable. Accordingly it intends to strongly refute the answer and counterclaim."

(Sourced from Reuters)