Mining and Metals

Publications: 04 OCTOBER 2019

Outstanding performance by A&O in global M&A league tables

A&O has marked the end of Q3 2019 with an outstanding performance in the M&A league tables; the result of advising on a number of complex, high-value transactions in a wide range of sectors and markets, around our global network in 2019.

Publications: 26 JULY 2019

Investing in China: opportunities and challenges coexist

At a time when U.S.-China trade tensions are being reported as having a dramatic impact on the global economy, China’s Ministry of Commerce has announced that the actual use of foreign capital in China is still increasing steadily, indicating that foreign investment into China’s economy is not yet being significantly affected by the trade war. In the first half of 2019, a total of 20,131 foreign invested enterprises were newly established in China, with the actual deployment of foreign capital reaching RMB478.33 billion, an increase of 7.2% year on year (equivalent to USD70.74bn, up 3.5% year on year) (excluding the data in the banking, securities and insurance sectors).

Publications: 26 JULY 2019

China removes more barriers to market entry

The pledge by President Xi at the G20 Summit in Osaka that China would continue to liberalise market access has seen immediate progress in the form of a new update to the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment (the Industries Catalogue) and the publication of two revised negative lists governing foreign investment.

Publications: 07 MARCH 2019

Mining company not liable for acts of police

This case deals with several key tortious principles relating to acts of third parties and will be of particular interest to companies in the extractive industries monitoring their exposure to human-rights-related risks.  Here, an iron ore mining company, African Minerals Ltd (AML), created the infrastructure to mine and transport iron ore in Sierra Leone, leading to significant local unrest.  The court held AML was not liable to the claimant local residents for the acts of brutality towards them by the Sierra Leone police (SLP) who were attempting to restore law and order: Kadie Kalma v African Minerals Ltd & ors [2018] EWHC 3506.