Brazilian miner Vale has announced that it has transferred its equity interest in its joint venture iron ore project in Guinea in West Africa with BSG Resources Limited (BSGR) back to BSGR.
The government of Guinea revoked the joint venture's mining rights in April 2014, without any finding of wrongdoing on the part of Vale. The transfer of Vale's equity stake in the joint venture does not represent any form of settlement with BSGR and Vale has retained rights to pursue BSGR with respect to the loss of Vale's investment in the joint venture.
The revocation of the mining rights was due to a technical committee report indicating that the mining licenses were obtained by Vale's partner BSGR through corrupt practices.