The Malawi High Court has referred for mediation a court case in which communities in the area hosting the Kanyika Niobium Exploration Project in Mzimba sued tenement holder Globe Metals and Mining and the Malawi Government claiming compensation and damages.

This is according to an article posted on the website of a regional human rights organization, the Southern Africa Litigation Center (SALC), which is assisting the Kanyika Community in seeking justice on the issue.

SALC, which is jointly working with Livingstonia Synod’s Church and Society, says in the article that it commenced the action in the Malawi High Court on August 28, 2017 but on September, 11 2017, the Attorney General, on behalf of the Malawi Government who are the second defendants in the case filed defence denying the Kanyika Community’s claims and later the first defendants, Globe Metals and Mining followed suite...

In 2006, ASX-listed Globe Metals started prospecting niobium, tantalum and uranium at Kanyika after it was granted an exclusive prospecting licence by the Government of Malawi.

But members of the Kanyika Community claim they were not consulted by either Globe Metals or the Government of Malawi before commencement of operations in the area.

In 2011, Globe Metals, working in collaboration with Mzimba District Council’s office, entered into negotiations and consultations for the resettlement of the Kanyika Community and the payment of compensation for any loss and damage occasioned to the Community as a result of the implementation of the project...