The key to the present stalemate appears to be the cleansing of...

The key to the present stalemate appears to be the cleansing of the 25% shareholding in Dathcom that is (or should be) under Cominiere's ownership. Only the DRC govt and Cominiere can speedily solve this problem, and remove Zijin and MMCS from the equation.

Giving the DRC govt and Cominiere a major financial incentive to clean up the mess could quickly break the deadlock. The reality is we are working in the DRC which is politically fragile. To date, AVZ appears to be doing everything by the book from a legal standpoint, however we are at a stalemate and in a right royal mess. AVZ needs to actively seek a pragmatic solution to the ownership issues, and make a blockbuster offer to the DRC govt and Cominiere. This would give the DRC govt the opportunity/cover to quickly move forward both politically and commercially and award the ML to Dathcom. Maybe a deal along the following lines:

1. AVZ offer the DRC/Cominiere to free carry DRC/Cominiere to the tune of 20%. The free carry only applies to DRC/Cominiere ownership and does not apply to any % that the DRC may offload.
2. AVZ purchase 5% from Cominiere in exchange for shares in AVZ.
3. Let the ICC arbitration play out in the ICC between AVZ and Dathomir for the "disputed" 15%.
4. AVZ offload a 5 to 10% interest in Dathcom to CATL, with more to follow when/if the ICC arbitration is successful

Resulting ownership:
60% AVZ
20% Cominiere/DRC govt
5% CATL
15% AVZ/CATL/Dathomir (depending on ICC outcome etc)

Bearing in mind that CATL's prime objective is to secure a long term supply of high quality Li, and reduce the risk associated with the project by guaranteeing some level of funding.

Then the challenge will be how to fund the mine and infrastructure development!