Skip to main content
International Arbitration Forum

Kansanshi Mining Plc v. Republic of Zambia

Case summary

At a glance

Parties
Kansanshi Mining Plc v. Republic of Zambia
Case no.
ICSID Case No. ARB/20/17
Forum and rules
ICSID Convention arbitration; ICSID Arbitration Rules 2006; place of proceeding London
Treaty
Kansanshi Development Agreement of 14 March 1997, amended and restated on 20 December 2001 (Clause 18)
Tribunal
Wendy Miles (President), John Beechey, Christopher Adebayo Ojo
Sector
Mining
Outcome
The parties settled. On 7 September 2023 the Tribunal took note of the discontinuance under ICSID Arbitration Rule 43(1).

The dispute

Kansanshi Mining Plc brought an ICSID claim against Zambia under the Kansanshi Development Agreement of 14 March 1997, as amended and restated on 20 December 2001. The published order does not set out the merits of the dispute. It shows that Kansanshi asked for provisional measures about its recently renewed mining licence and recent tax assessments. Zambia challenged jurisdiction and filed counterclaims. The parties later reached a settlement, and the proceeding was discontinued.

Key holdings

  1. The Respondent gave an undertaking, agreed between the parties, not to change the status quo on the mining licence or the tax assessments without 30 days' prior written notice. Procedural Order No. 2 recorded that undertaking and so resolved the request for provisional measures. ¶¶ 13–15
  2. The Tribunal refused the Claimant's request to file a Rejoinder on Jurisdiction. It left open a further application if the Respondent's Rejoinder raised new matters. ¶ 26
  3. Zambia did not pay its share of the advance on costs, and neither party paid the amount in default. The ICSID Acting Secretary-General suspended the proceeding for non-payment on 27 January 2023 under Administrative and Financial Regulation 16(2)(b). ¶¶ 48–52
  4. The parties reached a settlement agreement and asked for an order taking note of the discontinuance. The Tribunal took note of the discontinuance under ICSID Arbitration Rule 43(1). ¶¶ 62–64

Procedural history

  1. 19 May 2020Kansanshi files its request for arbitration with ICSID. ICSID registers it on 4 June 2020.
  2. 18 August 2020The Tribunal is constituted.
  3. 12 August 2021Procedural Order No. 2 records Zambia's undertaking and resolves the request for provisional measures.
  4. 28 October 2022After the deadline had passed, Zambia files its Reply on Jurisdiction and Rejoinder on the Merits, with an application for an extension of time.
  5. 27 January 2023The proceeding is suspended because the advance on costs was not paid.
  6. 28 April 2023The Tribunal vacates the hearing set for 31 July to 11 August 2023 while settlement talks continue.
  7. 7 September 2023Order taking note of the discontinuance after the parties' settlement.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by
For the claimant
Steptoe & Johnson LLP
For the respondent
Attorney General of Zambia · Essex Court Chambers

Run a conflict check on these names →

Keywords

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.

Case ID
ICSID Case No. ARB/20/17
Country
Section