A DISPUTE on a coking coal joint venture between Vale SA and Aquila Resources will continue to trial, Aquila said today, despite an Australian court granting a request from the company to block a planned meeting on the issue.
The dispute over the 50-50 Eagle Downs joint venture is one of several between Vale, the world's second-biggest listed miner by revenues, and Aquila, a small exploration and development company with coal, iron ore and manganese projects in Australia and South Africa.
Eagle Downs - adjacent to the massive Peak Downs mine in Queensland that is run by BHP Billiton - was granted a mining lease last month to produce up to 5.1 million tonnes of coal a year in its first 10 years.
However, two companies have clashed over rival plans to develop the project, with Vale favouring a proposal to start the $1.3 billion development project before port and rail access was secured and Aquila preferring to wait for an export route to become available.
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