Aquila Settles Vale Dispute Over Australia Coal Project

   By Rhiannon Hoyle 
 

SYDNEY--Aquila Resources Ltd. (AQA.AU) said Friday it had settled a long-running dispute over the sale of its 24.5% stake in an Australian coal project to Brazil's Vale SA (VALE).

Vale will pay 150 million Australian dollars (US$156 million) for the stake in the Belvedere coal mine project, located in Queensland state, as well as A$20 million to settle all legal proceedings relating to the project, Aquila said in a statement. The A$150 million value of the stake was determined last month by investment bank Rothschild, which had been appointed to carry out an independent assessment of the project.

Aquila agreed to sell its interest in Belvedere to Vale in June 2010, but the two sides couldn't agree on its "fair-market" valuation, preventing the deal from being completed.

In a separate statement, Aquila said it had received environmental approval from the Western Australian government for the development of Anketell Port, a new deepwater port proposed for the nation's iron-ore rich Pilbara region in which it holds a 50% interest.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at [e-mail]

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