KoBold Makes Offer for Congo Lithium as Country Courts US, page-1814

I think the ICSID case only really matters if Manono ends up in international (especially US-aligned) hands. No serious player is going to move forward with a billion dollar project while there’s a live arbitration hanging over it.

There’s actually precedent for this in the DRC. A mining license was previously handed to another international company, but they didn’t touch the asset until a proper settlement was reached with the party in arbitration. The international pressure, reputational risk, along with the legal uncertainty, were too much to ignore for a reputable organisation.

Now, if the license goes to a Chinese group, that’s a whole different story. They’d probably push ahead regardless of the ICSID case, and the DRC likely wouldn’t get in the way.

But from what we’re seeing lately, it looks like international players, probably US-aligned, are starting to circle. If that’s the case, a real offer to AVZ is probably on the way. Without it, no international group is going to want to touch this asset.